When you walk in a room four kids aged 6 and under, you get a lot of commentary from strangers. "You certainly have your hands full." "You're busy!" "That's a little army you've got" and my personal fave to date, "That's ALOT of kids!", as if I had 14 kids with me rather than 4. After the shock of seeing a seemingly normal person with 4 kids wears off, the next most common line of attack is "I don't know how you do it!" I usually smile and say something self deprecating, unless I'm feeling snarky. Recently an older gentleman commented, "So what do you do in your spare time." I responded with "I have four children, what do you think I do in my spare time?" with a large wink thrown in for good measure.
I've recently figured out how I manage four kids though. It was all the carnival games I played as a kid. Let me explain:
Whack a Mole - perfect training for life with four kids. My day to day is filled with kids popping their heads up and asking for various things. I have to get a snack for one, while another is asking for crayons and another is crying about a boo boo, and the fourth is needing a diaper change. It's all about peripheral vision and quick responses.
Ring Toss - Total practice field for throwing snacks with accuracy into the way back of the van. If I had known then what I know now, I would have practiced more with my back to the bottles and looking in the walleye mirror.
The Balloon Dart game - more of a metaphorical preparation, but I do puncture the wild schemes of my kids pretty much daily.
Duck Pond - well, hasn't every parent fished something out of the toilet?
Dunk Tank - I've spent hours trying to figure out how to do baths dunk tank style. It's a work in progress.
Bean Bag Toss - totally prepared me to feed four kids at the dinner table. I can throw a dinner roll with wicked accuracy.
Fun House - Pretty much goes without saying. Sometimes scary, sometimes dangerous, but you always want to go back through.
So all in all, I'd like to thank all those toothless carnies, who in their own way taught me as much about motherhood as Dr. Spock.
