Lending a Helping Hand

I've had a busy week. A friend of mine that I've known since high school came in town with her two boys. Brandi is the only person that I've kept in touch with from school, and she only went there for our Senior year! That was at least 12 years ago! Wow that's a long time to me to be out of high school. We have stayed in contact off and on throughout the years. In just the past few years we have stayed in touch on a more regular basis. I saw her first son, Solomon, only a few days after he was born almost six years ago. And we get together when she comes down from D.C. to visit her family here. I really appreciate and treasure our friendship.

Anyway, Brandi came down with her boys Solomon, who turns 6 in December, and Darius, who will be 2-years old next month. A little background: she and her family focus on living a well-balanced lifestyle that includes eating well and maintaining a healthy body through the foods that they eat. She is a health counselor. Check out her site at http://www.lifewithspice.com/. So the purpose for her coming down here is for her and her sister to make a DVD about eating foods in the right seasons and a healthy way to prepare and enjoy them. Last Friday she asked me if I could help her by watching the kids while she and her sister ran errands to get ready for the shoot. I said sure because I wanted to help her out. Plus this would give Dylan a chance to hang out with other little boys. Brandi's kids are a cool bunch of little people.

I think everyone had a good time. There was a lot of getting to know each other. Dylan is only used to playing with his brother. As hard as I try, he always takes toys from Devin. This time he couldn't take toys without someone fighting back. So I had to instill some rules about sharing. Solomon was my little helper. This guy loves, just loves, babies. He could watch Devin for me while I left the room for a moment. I will admit that I was a little apprehensive when he would pick Devin up and carry him, but that's just the overprotective mom coming out.

At the end of the afternoon, Brandi asked me the big question: Could I watch the boys all day Tuesday while she and her family shot the video? I told her I would have to think about it. I was thinking that a few hours wasn't too bad, but a whole day?? Could I really handle 4 BOYS under the age of 6? I really needed to think about it. I eventually said 'yes' (it didn't hurt that she offered to pay me).

We decided for me and my boys to come over Monday night to spend the night. I thought I had everything packed and ready to go so that when Bart got home, we could eat dinner and then leave. I know he has to go to bed early and get up so early in the morning. Well it didn't work out that way. Needless to say, he was mad...more like very mad. Oh well, he got over it. He complained about all the stuffed I packed. I always pack a lot with two small children. Plus you never know what is going to happen. I'm glad I'm always prepared and I'm not even a boy scout (lame I know).

Tuesday everyone got up early, had breakfast, then watched Michael Jackson's Moonwalker movie, all before 9 a.m. What a way to start off the day with watching Michael Jackson dance and a 5-year old copying his every move and pointing out every detail. I remember watching that movie over and over again as a kid, but I sure didn't dance like Solomon does. We watched a few movies and played outside a few times. The boys ran around the house screaming and chasing each other. I'm kinda glad that Devin can't walk just yet because I didn't need to have all of them running around crazy. It was good to hear the laughter, but there would also be crying. Solomon was a little bit too protective of his brother when he should have let me handle it. Dylan and Darius would take toys from others and get upset when someone took their toy. But I would like to think that there was more laughter than tears.

By the evening, I was exhausted. Dylan and Darius took a nap, but Devin was wide awake. I got to close my eyes for a few minutes while on the couch but didn't get the nap like I wanted. Sol was watching Peter Pan for the second time so I asked that he just made sure Devin didn't get to the stairs. He's a good helper like that.

Brandi's shoot took a lot longer than they expected. While everyone was watching TV after dinner, Sol began asking when his mom was coming home. He had some tears and that little voice letting you know he was sad. I couldn't give him an answer but I tried to reassure him some. Sol is so much taller and mature than most 5-year olds that you forget that he is only 5. With the four kids, I often lost track of time. So when Brandi's mom called to let me know that they were running even later, I knew it was time for bed because Solomon was passed out in the arm chair and Darius was headed toward a major meltdown. Bedtime for everyone! And as it got later, that meant bedtime for me, too. So we spent another night at their place. I wondered what Bart would think when he woke up and I wasn't there.

When I woke up, I didn't see anyone around. When Sol woke up, he asked where his mom was. I couldn't even tell him. I was thinking to myself, "Oh no!! Where in the world is your mom and your grandmom?! Did they go for a run so early in the morning?" Thankfully Brandi popped her head out of grandmom's room. Thank God!! I wasn't meantally prepared to take care of the kids for another day. The boys and I decided not to run straight home. It was a nice day, and Brandi suggested we go to the neighborhood pool and playground. We had a great time playing, swimming, and running around. By the end of our afternoon, everyone was noticeably tired, but I had to wait for my older sister to come pick us up, which seemed to take forever. When she did get there, Brandi was already half a sleep. After I loaded everything up in the car, had my kids buckled and ready to go, the car wouldn't start. UGH! As much as I loved our time there, I was ready to go home. Dylan and Devin were ready for a nap and were showing it. We finally got out of there after some praying and pleading with the car.

I thought Sol would be glad to have Dylan leave. No more fighting, having Dylan tell him no, or having Dylan referring to every toy as "Mine." But he seemed kind of sad. Since we've been home, Dylan keeps asking to go and see Sol and Darius. It's hard to explain to him that they live in another state and he won't be able to visit them.

I must say that I was inspired after leaving Brandi's mom's house. That place was so clean. As tired as I was, when we got home that night, I looked at my home and was disgusted and embarrassed. I mopped the kitchen floor that night because it was so dirty, and I hated having Devin crawling on it. The next day I conquered the piles of dirty dishes stacked everywhere around the kitchen. The kitchen finally look decent. I haven't gotten my place as clean as hers (I doubt I ever will until the kids are headed to college), but I'm headed in the right direction. Let's just hope that this feeling and motivation doesn't go away to soon. Brandi says that she feels the same way when she heads back home.

Overall it was a great week. I even got to take Dylan and Devin to the park. Dylan got to play and ride his trike around. He was so cute! Devin just hung out on my hip. I was talking to a nanny from Trinidad. She was surprised to hear that Dylan was potty trained. She was taking caring of a boy and girl a little bit older than him and they still weren't potty trained. I told her about the little doll that you can buy. It's supposed to set the example for the kids. She said that the mom had bought all that stuff for the girl, but it didn't work. I'm so proud of my little guy. Even though he has accidents every now and then because he gets too busy playing and waits too late. Other than that he's doing a good job. He makes his mama happy.