Grandma Camp

I’m enjoying the sound of a semi quiet house right now. A house with only 3 kids in it. Three kids who are getting along quite nicely. And I’m thankful for parents who are willing to take a couple of kids for a few days. I asked my mom if she’d like to have some helpers, that she could put them to work ALL she wanted, and maybe give them a lecture or two on attitude and obedience and all that jazz. As it turned out, it worked out nicely because my dad had volunteered to set up the flags for their neighborhood for President’s Day, and he could use some help with that job. Well, There you go! Help for their grandparents and a little sanity for me. Win-win, right? And we didn’t have to make a special trip, because my parents were coming here for a wedding reception Saturday night, anyway.

It was quite nice getting the kids ready for church this morning. Only three kids to dress, do their hair, and help find their shoes. There was no arguing, no teasing, and no complaining. Without the teenagers, the house is such a calm and quiet place. Seriously. We’ve been having a little attitude and conflict and sassy going on, so it’s nice to have just a couple of days without that.

The younger kids were a bit jealous when they found out that the oldest two got to go to “Grandma Camp”, even though I told them they were going to a work camp. Kind of like in the movie Holes, where they have to dig and dig all day. But without the scary Sigourney Weaver character. I told them they would have to shovel snow, set up flags, and maybe even (gasp) vacuum, and that when they come back they’d better have had an attitude adjustment. But I don’t think anyone believed me. They know that their grandparents love them to death, and think they are just the cutest things since new babies, and would NEVER make them do WORK or PRACTICE THE PIANO like their mean old mom does.

It’s good for all of us to have a little bit of time away from each other, I think. The kids have a great time getting to feel special by staying with Grandma and Grandpa, and we as parents get a little bit of a break from the five kid thing, and the siblings get a little bit of a different dynamic by not having the teenagers there. They get to feel like “the oldest” and maybe get to do some things they don’t normally get to do.

Hopefully they are being well behaved at Grandma camp, so that they don’t ruin their chance of every doing this again. So, thanks Mom and Dad! You are the greatest!