You Have Four Children

We had a really, really nice visit with my aunt and her husband this past week. When you have a house full of kids you just never know what is going to happen. And it is especially nerve wracking when the people visiting are not use to kids.

But, I have to say, my kids did great! Oh, they were still kids but on their very best behavior. And, my aunt had such wonderful things to say about them, and our whole family. If she said it once, she said it at least 20 times "Your kids are so well behaved." and "You have such good kids."

On Sunday before she left she said "Not once did I hear you raise your voice." Honestly, I felt like a fraud. Because I do raise my voice at them, too much. But, I really have been working on controlling my angry voice. Plus, who wants to spend a week with a screaming mom. They were on vacation for goodness sake. I had to put my best foot forward.

But, for the record, I do get impatient with my my kids. And I am working on that.

Anyway, one other thing she said quite often, when I told her things like "We don't usually go into stores full of beads." (She makes beautiful necklaces and wanted to check out the local beading store.) Or, "I have help. I have a cleaning lady once a month." Or, "Sometimes I do think I am crazy." Her response was "Well, you have four kids."

Yes, I do have four kids and it is a really great excuse for a lot of things. But, it really isn't an excuse. It is what it is. It got to be kind of amusing because I thought, if I am not careful, I could get out of a lot of stuff with "But, I have four kids."

I know lots of families that have way more kids then we do. And they get around just fine. I guess it just depends on the family, person, kids and necessity.

Anyway, I appreciate the time we had with family. And so very glad they made the effort to visit. And really, really glad they enjoyed our family. Especially because we have four kids . . .