Last weekend, Katrina and I babysat together. It was quite the adventure, instantly becoming a part-time parent of 7 kids.
The adventure started before we got there. The afternoon babysitter had to take a trip to the emergency room when Daughter #2 fell off the trampoline and broke her arm. So Thursday night, Katrina and I cared for her as well as Son #2 who had a fever, sore throat, and cough, and Daughter #3 who was afraid to sleep downstairs in the basement. Katrina also had a cough, so neither of us got a lot of sleep those couple nights.
It was quite sweet having Bible story time with the two youngest (Daughter #3 and Son #4). They asked for a scary story, so Katrina told the story of Eglon and Ehud, and I told the story of Daniel in the Lion’s den. We sang songs and prayed together each night. Son #3 joined us some of the time.
On Friday night Katrina was out late helping with the Middle School play. Daughter #1, Sons #1 and #3 and I played Bohnanza, followed by a few rounds of Dutch Blitz.
On Saturday we took some of the kids to see the Middle School play. Here’s Katrina’s perspective from Friday night, and Alli’s description (she was the director). One of my favorite moments happened when Son #4 asked why there were tables set up outside. I explained that they’re for the cast party, not us. Later, he asked, “Since [Daughter #2] has a cast, can she go to the cast party?”
In the evening, most of the family sat around discussing the upcoming Middle School spirit day. Theme: Opposites. Son #1, who happens to be one of my cellists in high school orchestra, said, “We should do a spirit day where everyone dresses up like Miss Musick!” I wondered briefly what item of clothing or distinctive feature he would choose to replicate across the entire student body. “Everyone would paint their faces red and paste a big smile on their face!” So apparently my inescapable blush and my continuous smile are my most distinguishing features.
Sunday morning, we did home church, which worked out nicely since Daughter #1 seemed to be coming down with Son #2’s illness, and Daughter #3 and Son #4 were coughing up a storm, and Daughter #2’s arm was itchy inside the cast. Son #1 played some worship songs on his computer and we all sang along. Next, he told the story of Gideon putting out the fleece. We played an altered version of Bananagrams/speed scrabble: 2 teams were given 8 tiles, and we had to come up with a word that best fit the story.
These 3 songs comprised our “worship time.” The last one was a riot!
It was probably the most epic weekend of babysitting ever – and it was fairly calm for this particular family!
