Why "2" fit us fine

A friend of mine is going through a little rough patch with some circumstances in her life and her marriage at this point and I thought the only thing that I could possibly think to help lend her a hand at the given moment was to offer to watch her kids for a few hours to allow her some time alone.

When I called her asking for her kids to come over for a play date, she told me how nice it was for me to think of that and that while many other people have offered to help her in other ways, what she really needed most was some kid-free, adult time. Just by her acknowledging so openly that I was actually providing some much needed help to her, I felt like she was the one doing me a favor. I can't even tell you how good it felt for me to know that the simple favor I was doing for her, meant so much to her and how much she appreciated it. And it didn't cost me a dime, or any of my time, nothing except for being there to play with her kids for a couple hours. Better yet, my kids thought it was a major event hosting their friends at our house. What a giant boost to my self-esteem; realizing that it is better to give than to get.

So, what in the world do I do with 4 kids? The cast of characters include my 1 and 3 year old and my friends' players, a 3 and a 5 year old. I let them decorate cupcakes, color, and jump and bounce around on the sofa and the slide. They played kitties melting in hot lava. (5 year old imagination?) They were wild, screaming horses on a rampage. And myself and the 3 older ones even sat on the floor and took turns rolling the ball to one another. We had only one snag in misunderstanding (read: not listening) which resulted in a shattered picture frame from a ball kicked in the house. No one was injured. All kids remained intact.

The afternoon was interesting to say the least. I very much recognize that 2 kids is exactly the right amount for me (like I have a choice) but at the same time, 4 kids wouldn't be impossible. (as long as I had earplugs on standby) Also, because our mini-guest siblings are 2 years apart, as are my duo, it was like catching a glimpse into our future with a 5 year old Elaina and a 3 year old Lincoln. That alone, made me want to freeze Elaina into forever being 3 and let Lincoln catch up to speed. A little bit. At least until he can talk to me and we can have conversations. And he's done teething. And he can feed himself.