Pay Backs

We did get a chance to leave our house this weekend sans children. It wasn't at all what I had planned, but nonetheless it did help lower the terror alert level back to Bert. For some reason, we are having a hard time trying to find someone to watch our kids. Why someone wouldn't want to give up their night to hang out with teething baby, a not-quite-potty-trained two year old and a sassy six year old is beyond my comprehension. It's not very often that we go out without the children in tow. We've also adopted an independent parenting style in which we do not ask either of our families for help raising our three children. They discipline them enough without us asking. So, you would think, on the rare occasion that we NEED to get out before mama blows her top, someone in our ginormous families would be more than happy to help us out. Not the case. Chris also tried to contact the teenage twins that babysit for us in crunch situations. They had just started school and volleyball which means their days of wanting to entertain our kids are numbered. They were also unavailable this weekend. After a tearful plead with my sister-in-law Friday evening, she succumbed to my manipulative plan and committed to watching the midgets on Saturday. Between the hours of three and seven p.m. Whippee! Four hours without kids! Not near as long as I was hoping but much better then nothing at all. Chris got home from work at 3:30 pm which did NOT make me happy. By the time we actually got to the place we were going, we only had two and a half hours left. Oh, and the place we went was to meet some of the people he works with for a couple of cocktails. Let me tell you, I was far less then ecstatic. But it was still time with adults only. We made it home by our curfew, played with the kids and got them ready for bed. Chris got Alex dressed while I took care of the girls. Before long, Alex was running around like a wild animal. I kept yelling to Chris to come get him but wasn't getting a response. I hunted down Chris and found him SLEEPING! As in PASSED OUT. COLD. I was irate. He was home and couldn't stay awake long enough to help me get the kids to bed! Normally, I would have started screaming and pitching a fit like a two year old until he woke up and did what I wanted. But then we would have spent the rest of the night mad at each other, and it was only 8:30. Instead, I employed the kids to seek revenge. After about forty-five minutes and twenty-seven pictures later, he awoke and helped me get them off to dreamland.

Voila!