Revelations from Living with Young Children

I tried to warn my brother-in-law and sister-in-law that living with us was going to be loud and chaotic, particularly in the early morning and early evening when I would be trying to shepherd the kids out of the house and then back home again for dinner.  Oh, and not just while preparing dinner, but during dinner too.  And then again during bedtime.  So pretty much any time the kids are at home, expect chaos.  Andy and Danielle have spent a lot of time with our family and they know our kids well, but still, I felt the need to emphasize what they were getting themselves into. 

While fellow parent friends joke that living with us has gotta be one great form of birth control, I don't think they're completely scared off from ever having kids.  They're such laid-back people that they easily just go with the flow in our house.  Although they appear unphased about living with kids full-time, they did admit a few things they've learned. 

Here are a few of their revelations about kids:

• Don't all kids love baths?  Well, not our kids, who, in particular, hate washing their hair.  It's gotten so bad with Soren that he starts whimpering as soon as we mention it's bath time.  After bath time on the first spring day warm enough to open our windows, I noticed our neighbors on their patio enjoying dinner.  Well, trying to enjoy dinner about ten feet away from our open bathroom window.  In typical Minnesota style, first they tried denying they heard a peep, then tried convincing me the commotion wasn't that loud.  They finally settled on being relieved it wasn't their kids screaming bloody murder.   
• Even when the kids aren't bathing, the house is rarely quiet if they're awake.  Even though Andy has spent a lot of time at our house and with our kids, he probably has never spent sun-up to sundown with all of us crammed together under one roof.  Day after day.  He said he's blown away by the constant noise and energy level that starts the moment the kids wake up (which is by 6:30 a.m.) and doesn't end until sometime after their 7:00 p.m. bedtime.  There's a reprieve while Soren naps and Oliver watches a video, but even so, he's in disbelief that they can go, go, go.  
• We're so used to the kids fighting, arguing, stealing something from the other, pushing or wrecking the other's awesome tower made of blocks that we're not very quick to react.  The truth is, we're probably too tired to intervene even when we should and tell ourselves it's healthier if they learn to work it out themselves.  So that leaves Andy and Danielle on edge debating when to jump in and rescue a kid or discipline the other because surely some adult in the house should be giving immediate attention to the situation. 
• It's not all bad though.  There's what Andy described as the "awesomeness of Pancake Wednesday."  The kids look forward to it and it's an easy meal for Chris and me to pull together after picking the kids up from daycare.  Andy and Danielle like Pancake Wednesday as much as the kids that they make a point of trying to leave work early so they're home in time to eat with us. 
• Oliver and Soren may on be 4.5 and 2.5, but they are busy kids!  Not only are the kids full of energy all day long, but to Andy's surprise, they've got places to go.  There's ECFE on Monday nights, for awhile, swim lessons on Saturday mornings and then a calendar full of playdates or outings with friends and a gazillion birthday parties. 

I think the first thing Andy and Danielle will notice when they wake up on the first morning in their new house will be the silence.  However, they're only moving two blocks away, so they just might hear bathtime from their new house.