Steph is out-of-practice!

Ok - so I know it's been a while (7 years to be exact) since my girls were 5, but I had no idea how rusty I was in dealing with that age group!

Brantley came up to WI on June 8 - just a short two weeks ago. Since then, I have been a cocker spaniel, the beatuy parlor lady, and Joe, Brantley's prom date. I have been to a Disney Princess party at the Y, craft day at the library, and have watched the world premier of Camp Rock on Disney Channel. Come to think of it, I have now seen every show on Disney Channel - twice - as it is permanently playing on my T.V. And the cooking!! I forgot how nice it was that my girls can not only fix their own breakfast and snacks, but Morgan actually cooks dinner, too. Gone are those days! I am back to being in the kitchen almost full-time. No sooner have I cleaned up from one meal/snack than Brantley is ready to eat again! And we no longer can have "fend for yourself" nights for dinner. And can you believe that Brantley actually needs help in the bath? I haven't had to do that in a while!

And the toys...since Brantley is afraid of being in the basement by herself, that means that all the toys from down there are now up here - cluttering my family room. I have been forced to place two baskets in an out-of-the-way spot behind my couch to be the catchall for all the junk. I swear I pick up all day long, and even though the house is perfect when I go to bed, it is already a complete wreck after breakfast! Brantley does like to play in her room, and since that is upstairs where I don't have to see it, we only pick that up about every other day...I have learned that I am completely anal about the cleanliness/straightness of my house. I feel like I spend way too much time asking her to "put that away," or "pick that up," or "please flush the toilet," and "turn the lights off when you are done." I sound worse than my own mother! (Sorry, mom!)

I am exhausted! Either I am getting too old for little ones, or else I am just really rusty! I know that my girls were just like her - worse in fact, because there were two of them - but I don't remember all the work. I guess it's like childbirth: you soon forget just how painful it was. I have forgotten just how much work kids are! (The only difference this time around - at least Bryan can take over with all the "playing" once he gets home from work. He isn't nearly as much fun as me, but he will have to do!)

All that being said, we (or at least Brantely) are having lots of fun. This week: The Bee Movie, a juggler, a My Little Pony party, and whatever "unscheduled" make-believe play she concocts. Hats off to Sandy and Mom for their dedication to full-time motherhood!!!

**A slight disclaimer: All this being said, let me assure you that my girls are still just as hard, only in a different way. I still have their junk strewn all over the house, but they are much better at picking it up when I go nuts than Brantley is. They are still dominating the T.V. it's just with other channels I have no interest in, like E! and MTV. And maybe I don't have to do a ton of meal preparation for them, but the amount of driving to and from activities/friends' houses takes up just as much of my day!

Gotta' love them - and I do!