Babysitting the Bollins, Part Two

Asa and I spent Thursday and Friday helping watch the Bollin girls. On Thursday, we kept them from about 4 in the afternoon until about 2 in the morning, and on Friday we kept them for the afternoon at their house. Ami and Tony spent that whole time in the hospital trying to figure out why Ami was so sick. I really had a blast taking care of them, but it wore me out! I'm glad that I don't have four kids all the time, because I don't know if I could handle it day in and day out! The girls had fun with each other most of the time.

The first day, we kept them at our house. We walked to the park, played outside in the drive way, watched movies, ate dinner together, and then finally had their first sleepover together! We didn't get to do the whole wake-up-and-have-breakfast-together thing, since they left at about 2 in the morning. But Marley woke up the next morning and said "Abby, bed?" Sadly, I had to tell her they had gone home, but little did we know, we would be seeing them again that afternoon!

Friday afternoon, we stayed at their house, and that seemed to go a lot smoother. Marley liked having new toys to play with, and the Bollin girls were more comfortable with following the rules and sharing the toys at their house. But, by the end of the second day, the kids were arguing a lot more, pushing each other out of my lap, and there seemed to be a lot more booboos happening.

Luckily, they figured out what was ailing Ami and how to fix it. They got to come home, and were sweet enough to make us dinner that night. Spaghetti, Marley's favorite!

It definitely wore me out to take care of so many kids, but I am so glad that I was able to do it. I already know how hard it is for a stay-at-home mom to get things done alone during the day, and it has to be ten times as hard when you are sick and need to see a doctor. Living the Army life means that your friends have to play the role of your family when you are stationed away from them. Ami and I are both the kind of people that have a hard time asking for help. Usually, I would rather struggle through whatever it is, rather than ask someone to help me. But, I know I will need their help before we leave. I may have to go to the doctor or have a meeting without Marley. And I am happy to know that we have friends who would help us with that.