The Calm Before the Storm

There was a calm before the storm to be sure. As Ellie napped Saturday afternoon, we cleaned and baby-proofed the basement. We finished one hour early, and waited - sitting on the couch, enjoying the quiet, knowing that in less than 60 minutes - pandemonium was in store.

And we were not disappointed. You see, it was my idea in the first place. Five families bring all of their kids to one family's house for a huge babysitting swap, the host family watches all 8 kids, while the other parents go on dates, run errands, or otherwise entertain themselves without kids for four hours. Each couple gets four weeks of kid-free Saturday afternoons (4p-8p) and on the fifth week - a crazy, intensive kid-fest as they watch everyone else's kids.

Since I started it, we hosted Saturday's inaugural night. And it was not only successful, but actually a lot of fun. We had one 4-year old, two 3-year-olds, one 2-year old, two 18-months-old, and two 1 year-olds. It was a mad house. Dinner was wild and messy. Toys were strewn around the basement floor. Containment was our only defense as we determined our best strategy was to play zone coverage rather than man to man.

But the kids LOVED it. They had such a wonderful time. And here's the secret, we did too. They were a lot of fun to be around. They were excited to be together. You know you're a success, when the first thing one of the kids says when he walks in is "This is a fun party!"

While we are looking forward to our four weeks of Ellie-free dates on Saturdays, I'm not really dreading our next turn to babysit. And that in itself is success.