Crazy Week

It's a lovely spring day. Our 10 houseguests left on Wednesday and we spent yesterday straightening. I only have 6 loads of laundry left to run and now I have a moment to reflect on the visit.

THE WEATHER. Weather was generally crappy with scattered nice. Rained off and on the first few days. The babies already had the nice habit of shedding shoes at the door so it was not a problem on the floors, but we wanted them to have lots of nice outdoors play to help with their sleeping. The weather cleared up the last day or two of their visit so they got to play both in the backyard and at the park. On those days they slept well.
THE FOOD. Was not as organized as I thought I was. Lots of times folks were standing around wondering what to eat. If I had it to do over again, I would make everything way ahead, freeze it, and warm it up when it was time. Much of the visit was a blur of sandwich-making, one loaf at a time.
THE SCHEDULE. I had several meetings I could not miss and of course the mentoring had to proceed regardless. The family took all this right in stride. We did not have time to visit the exotic animal ranch but the kids took delight in simple play so I guess it turned out okay.
THE KIDS. What can I say? Delightful. Each of them is well-behaved, articulate, and bright as a new penny. Their capacity for original thought amazed me. I tried to give each of them a chore and they all out-performed their normal age capacity. DS2's daughter and I had "makeup time" together 3 mornings and it was such fun! She loves to put it on and I just let her go at it. That being said, I hid all the red lipstick beforehand so all she had to work with were foundation, powder and eye shadow. So even after globbing it on, she still looked pretty subtle. She felt so pretty! And we had nice girl time in this way.
The boys are gentle and diplomatic. They are creative. They have excellent critical thinking skills. Their townhouse in DC did not really have a yard so they enjoyed ours. Before they left, I asked the elder if he had a good time. He smiled and said, "Yes." Then he turned back to me and said, with a bright face, "A weally good time!"
DS1 did not stay long so I didn't have much time with his little ones, but of course, they are not moving out of the country for three years. DS1 and his wife seem very proud that their children can recite the periodic table and all the planets. They really can do it! Me, I hope they learn Humpty Dumpty and Jack & Jill as well. There's only one childhood, and it's over so quickly.
THE ADULTS. Had some lovely time with DDIL. We saw a movie, we went to yoga, she patiently showed me crochet, we chatted, and she made me yet another grocery bag. I was so upset to have lost one she made me earlier. I do believe she is the most thoughtful person I ever met. She spent some time making crocheted balls, 1.5" in diameter, with little jingle bells in the middle, just in case there is a fussy baby on the plane to Japan. She bragged and cooed and made over my well-meaning attempt to crochet a dishcloth as if it were the Mona Lisa of needle art. (It's not.) I will definitely miss her.
My boys are both attentive and sweet dads. I would love to have had a dad like them. I observed them segue from playful to strict to encouraging with wonder and awe.
DH has really learned how to grandparent, amazing to me as he had to learn parenting and grandparenting all at one go. This visit he was really "into it" and enjoyed all the babies. He pushed swings. He grilled. He took photos at the park. He crept off and held our newest, Anna Sophia, quietly in a secluded corner. He looked at her with such love and wonder -- I watched him from far off and tried to freeze the image in my head.
LITTLE ONE. Handled having our home overturned much better than I had anticipated! (She cherishes our usually-peaceful environment.) All the visitors respected her room as virtually off-limits until the last night, when we needed her bed for DS1 and DDIL. She accepted this with grace. She played board games, shared toys, included the 5 & 7-year-olds on Roller Coaster Tycoon. She held babies, played, and encouraged.
Her school talent show was this week. Typically, when she has a band concert or assembly or other event, it's always just DH and myself, and sometimes only me if DH has to work. I regret this sometimes when the other kids have parents, grandparents, even aunties present. We truly compensated for this, this week, when all 12 of us attended her school talent show. The toddlers, bigger kids and infant were polite and quiet. Even though LO is 12 and could have easily blown them off, she scurried to hold them in her lap until time for her to perform. I was proud. And, I really appreciated the support the fam gave her on her performance.
THE ASSESSMENT. It was a great visit, at a time when visits are pretty rare, and getting rarer. How many miles to Okinawa? Hmm. webflyer.com calculates it at 7,820. I had a good moment or two with each person. Yes, the food could have been better planned. But every person had a bed, even if it was shared; no one had an argument; the clutter was definitely well-managed; and everyone chipped in and helped. Most of all, there was lots of love and support.

THANK YOU FOR COMING.

Love,
Mom