Kelsey’s Night

So I woke up in our absolutely beautiful hotel room this morning, found the coffee, managed to make the coffee, sat on the couch and lovingly opened the lid of my little black Mac. I know, I know, what am I doing on the computer, you ask. I should be having a goooood time. I am having a good time. Fabulous, in fact. But sipping coffee, checking my email, catching up on Twitter and dipping a toe or two into the blog world is my morning routine. And it is THAT MUCH sweeter to do without three kids glomming on you, needing from you, asking for you!

So this is the first thing I read this morning after somebody at my house hung up on me and Dan trying to check in with the kids and let them know we are still alive. (Apparently the kids are not concerned at all, good sign, par for the course.)

An email from Kelsey, our beautiful babysitter (with just a bit of editing for readability):

So I read your blog, and thought you might find a little comfort in knowing how last night and this morning went… well here it goes:

When you left me with the kids, the tent was set up in the living room. They flipped it over, knocked into each other, and Max ‘ROARRRED” at everyone. I decided I should start dinner and made the taco bake while Ethan sat in the highchair devouring a container of blueberries. Then Jamis asked for a corndog and I of course gave in. So we sat at the table – the three boys eating corn dogs, me with the taco bake, and Jamis and Max had Banilla yogurt with blueberries mixed in. Dinner done, now bath time…

I took Ethan up for a bath since Jamis and Max were playing with each other. While I was upstairs, I heard such a good noise: Matt surprised us and was walking up the stairs with Max in his arms ready to get in the tub. This was so great since he kept giving me “NO!” with finger point/arm-outstretched every time I mentioned a bath. To more surprise Matt gave Ethan a diaper and helped change him. When Max was finished with his bath I brought him in with Matt and Ethan and the three of them wrestled while I went to find Jamis and give him your special letter. He was in a daze watching none other than Rocky.

Ethan went to sleep soon after bath time and the four of us settled in to watch…you’ll never guess… Bedtime Stories. Matt giggled and laughed the entire way through and Max and Jamis decided to COMPLETELY forget about me and only wanted “Matthew.” Max went to up to bed right after the movie and we read a book, while Jamis and Matt hung out downstairs…

The next morning, at 5:17, Max comes in… KUSEY!!! KUSEY WAKE UP!!! WAKE UP!! and proceeds to jump on top of me. I put some sort of kid show on your tv but that only lasted about 15 minutes because Jamis woke up and sure enough Ethan was soon to follow and immediate diaper changes were needed! As a typical morning goes, your CLEAN house was not so clean anymore, toys everywhere…

I made chocolate chip pancakes, or should I say that Jamis made chocolate chip pancakes, since he wanted to do it all. A load of dishes was done, dried and put away and more were put into the dishwasher. We then all got dressed and piled into the car and went to the “Peagown” where Jamis and Matt played basketball and Ethan and Max made friends with a little boy. The 5 of us then swung together on the swings. Ethan and Max fell asleep on the car ride back and went upstairs for a nap. Matt decided to sweep and swiffer your house…he has a bit of Kelsey-diagnosed OCD… Then Jen arrived and we wished her GOOD LUCK and I told her to please call me if she needed help with anything.

Anyway I hope you are having an amazing time, and thought you might feel a little relieved knowing how it went, since you said you felt a bit sad leaving them.

Kelsey

So wow! That’s why she’s the best, and there’s no one like her, and I am eternally grateful that I took a chance – out of desperation mostly – and hired her one day 2 years ago without ever seeing her with my kids. She sat on my couch, she smiled sweetly, and with every question I could think to pose she answered calmly and confidently and I just knew she was who she said she was: someone who loves children, and would grow to love my own.

Thank you, Kelsey. You rock! But better than that: you make my life easier and you make the kids’ lives happier, so much happier!

Tagged as: secret weekend