Monday fun

Yesterday, I, Chris, had Zach and Isabella for the morning. This is not a big deal. It's normal. I also had Katie Cavanagh, which is also normal for Mondays. She is Andy and Ashley's daughter and the girls enjoy playing together. Andy and Ashley are dear friends of ours, so we are glad that I can watch all 3 kids on Monday and Ashley can take all 3 on Friday. It works well... most of the time.

Typically when Katie gets here, it is about time for Zach to take a nap. This leaves me with 2, which is easy for the most part. Then when Zach is waking up, it's time for Katie to go to sleep, so we switch them out. When it's all done, out of 3 hours of watching all of them, I only really have 3 at a time for a few minutes.



Then there was Monday. Katie got up at 5am so she went down for a nap just prior to coming over. When she got here, she was happy as a clam and had no intention of going back to sleep. Thankfully, Zach was tired, so he went down. Isabella and Katie played well together for quite a while while watching an episode of Blue's Clues. After a while, Zach woke up again.

I thought, "this is the time to get them all out of the house. We'll go do something fun, like drive in circles killing time, or buying milk at sams." Brilliant plan. I put Zach on the floor, I put Isabella on the couch. I start to put her shoes on.



I then hear screeching from behind me. I look back and Katie (15 months) has Zach's top lip up over his nose. I let out a "yipe" and she then proceeds to bean him on the face 3 times in the not so gentle "Pat Pat Pat" that her parents have taught her to do to things she likes. Turns out more like "slap slap slap" on the face, and Zach bursts in to tears. I grab Katie and set her up the chair, all the while saying, "no Katie, no. be gentle with Zach. no hurt Zach." She bursts in to tears.

I go back to Zach and pick him up and discover that he is FINE and he starts to settle down.


However, Isabella then bursts in to tears saying, "No Katie hurt Zach! No Katie be gentle with Zach! No hurt my Zachy!" By this time, Zach is back to smiling and being happy. Katie is sitting in the chair wondering what just happened and how she's going to climb down. Isabella is beside herself and wants to personally inspect any possible damage done to her little brother. She then takes up the guard position between Katie and Zach as to fend off any future hostilities.

All of this should have had be laughing, but let me tell you, three little kids screaming at once can really ratchet the stress-o-meter right to the top of the scale. When it was all done, I was ready for everyone to come home!

I'm just thankful that Ashley gets to experience the joys for 3 at once as well on Friday's. I'm willing to bet that she is calmer about the whole thing. :-)

Chris