An Afternoon of Four - #NaBloPoMo 11

The kids and I are baby-sitting for two other children today, ages 5 and 2. I can barely take credit though, as other than having purchased and replenishing the endless snacks they're all eating, my kids are doing most of the entertaining work. They've played with toy cars, super heroes, the dollhouse and drew an extensive series of scribbles. It's been shockingly smooth so far, even though the two year old isn't napping. They're all watching a Lego show together now. I took the day off, and it's been nice listening in on their chatter and games. Hannah is so, so sweet with the little one, and Max is loving having a buddy close to his age. It's a tiny bit like having the two other children I didn't have, just for a day.

Stopping at two kids was the right choice for us, especially with everything I went through with my back, and I don't regret it. But seeing friends and family having little ones now, almost seven years since Max was born, it does make me miss those times. The dollhouse has barely been touched over the last year (I'm planning to pack it all away and hold on to it for the next generation of kids to play with). I'm planning to do a serious purge of a lot of other toys before we begin our renovations in the spring. But what is most wonderful to see is how great my kids are with these other two. Yes, it's just one day, and they might not be as relentlessly kind to true siblings as they have been today. Or maybe they would have.

I think they've all had a good time today.

A last hurrah for these Barbie dolls?