Adventure Is Babysitting

I grew up with three sisters. While it wasn't always paradise, it was always an adventure. I am the oldest and the youngest is 5 years younger than me, so you can imagine the teenage years were a total roller coaster of hormones in our house.

The house was always teeming with kids- friends and cousins- and it was rarely quiet for even a minute. I enjoyed it, but relished my quiet time as well. There were plenty of slumber parties and my friends and I hit 16, someone was always stopping by. Another thing that also brought kids into the house was babysitting. I remember babysitting 2 brothers during the summers and bringing them home to jump on our trampoline sometimes.

It was just natural progression that we all wanted kids, but after I had Matthew, I wanted a LOT of kids. I wanted to have another one right away and keep on going. Mike wasn't exactly on the same page as me and for good reason. At the time, we lived in a 900 sq. foot apartment and had some land we planned on building on. Mike is much more grounded than I, thank goodness!

We did build our house and we did have one more baby, and now I just get my kid fix by babysitting. I have a great bunch of kids who give me all of the laughs and adventure that I'd like and I get to send them home each evening.

These kids come home from school and ask me all kinds of questions, they help themselves to their snacks in the pantry and they feel right at home. Just like I like it. We do projects, have little parties, joke around, play outside and watch movies. They are like family.

Tonight, two of the kids are spending the night. Steven and the boy call each other "Best Buddy" and the girl (who is Matthew's age and sweet as can be) is Matthew's future fiancee (according to me and her Mom anyway). It's Spring Break and I figured since they were going to be here early in the morning, I might as well let them spend the night and sleep in a little.

Ten years ago, if someone had told me what I'd be doing now, I'd have had them committed. Now, though it doesn't come with a life insuranceplan, it is a perfect fit. I love my "borrowed kids" and I love giving them a safe and fun place to be.