done at 2.

That's right - 2 is feeling like a really great number. I watched 5 kids between the ages of 7 and 14 months last week.

This was not a 2 or 4 hour stint. Oh no. This was all day.

The day began great and quickly became overwhelming. Everyone ate breakfast, I promised a duck pond visit - and excitement ensued.

Then, things began slowing down; as in slow motion down.

Did you know that cleaning up after breakfast with 5 takes, like, an hour?

And just as we are about to throw on some shoes and head out for our walk - a major eruption. Up the back, across the waist, all over the clothes. No, I'm not talking about me.

We clean up and head on our walk about 1 hour later. I'm thinking a morning walk in the sun, throwing bread at ducks, a quick snack - and everyone will be ready for lunch and nap. I wasn't being very realistic.

We return after much bliss. All are tired, a few screams about not wanting to share (all screaming came from my children) and a chair on baby toes in between throwing lunch on some plates.

And did you know that making tuna sandwiches for five and cleaning up also takes an hour? The wheat bread was not a hit. Grapes for half, bananas for the other half - but the chips. Oh, tortilla chips won the day!

Finally - nap time. Joyous. Nap. Time. Not for me - I work while others nap. And...

...not one person napped. 30 minutes later, individuals slowly arise. And I realize that there is no way I will be working.

I will admit that I lost all hope, or care. I could not feign excitement or happiness, or cheerfulness at everyone's short tempers (again my children). Throw in a movie - and daughters scream.

Scream about:

• others stealing their seats,
• bloody teeth after falling,
• others need a booster seat,
• scream,
• scream,
• scream.

Snack time - only marshmallows will do because we have no candy in visible sight. So I throw raisins in the marshmallow mix, you know, just to cheat us all into thinking we are healthy.

After all left - I came to a few realizations regarding the idea of having many children.

1. Cleaning is impossible - by the time one room/thing is clean, many, many other things have become dirty.


2. Watching everyone all the time? Impossible.


3. Items not breaking? Again, impossible.


4. Noise? Very, very possible.

So - two is sounding really nice, manageable. Any more and I will have to give up. On Everything.