Stayed-over-Brady-Branch

Whew.. I’ve survived!

Sunday, they’ve officially stayed over in my place till Saturday, means six nights in my house, all five of them (including my two kids). 4 boys and one girl! ONE girl! That’s it! All the rest are “batang” (it means with penis)

Do you know how noisy they could be? The boys are really loud till I’ve to shout to talk to them, to get my message across. I bet everyone in my neighborhood can hear me, ‘cos this normally happened early in the morning when I tried to rush them off to the car, get them ready, or at bed time where I tried to get them into bed without fighting, without sticking each feet into each others’ mouth! And those hours are the most quiet hours of the day!!! Of course my neighbor can hear me!!

Well, what did I learn over the course of those nights which mostly I was alone with them,  how did I survived and still maintain my sanity.. LOL

First, be calm.

‘Cos once you are panic, you’ll tend to forget things or get disorganized, and that’s when the kids will become harder to dealt with.

No big deal, just STAY CALM, unless they are trying to kill each other.

Second, know that you are in control.

In order to do this, you need to know what they like and don’t like. What are the things that can get their attention, and of course things that they are afraid of…. hehehe.. this can be used as a threat. Which is related to lesson number 3. Win their hearts if possible, so they’ll listen to you.

Third, use your power to threaten them. Especially if they are still playing or bully the girl. This is what I’d said “Okay, for those who didn’t listen, you can sleep with the dog outside. Or if you like, there is an empty room next door.” They always buy this, ‘cos who wanted to sleep outside!? What more they are scared of my dog, ha! And then the empty room, they hate to sleep alone ‘cos they are just .. well… maybe afraid of the dark.. and they love the air-con, which the empty room doesn’t have, ha! Gotcha!

Sure enough, after five or so minutes, they are all quiet down and sleeping.

Another thing that help me was I’ve actually cultivated a bed-time routine for my two boys. So I tried to bring the rest of the boys into that routine too. The girl are fine, she is my little helper.

For my two boys, one thing that can’t be missing every night is their reading time. Whereby I read to them every night on one small chapter of the book, feed them with information that they can linger around while falling asleep. This is very effective as to quiet them down and go into sleeping mode.

Forth, always remember they are small kids, don’t kill them no matter what they’ve done.

For instance when they kick or punch each other. Most probably they are just playing. Most seriously, that would be hitting if they are angry with each other, then that is the time when I intervene. Not that I kept quiet when they start playing rough, but I would think that it is normal, unless they really started fighting and one started to cry. Or they are doing some dangerous act like throwing heavy toys at each other.

Anyway, the fighting mode or the “I hate him” mode past pretty soon, say like after 5 minutes. So don’t take it too seriously.

Fifth, knowing that it will be over soon, ha!

So, try to enjoy the time with them while you can. ‘Cos pretty soon, they’ll be back to their parents.

Other things that happened was: I kept on calling the wrong name between my sons’ and my nephews’ names, ha!

Another thing was I have to stop referring myself as “mommy”, but instead just say me or “Yi-Yi”.

Oh, and probably one last lesson: Get them involve.

Things like picking up their own cloths from the floor, brushing and bath themselves, collecting and folding clothes, bring their own plates to the washing basin, picking up their own toys. But at the end of the day, sure there are still things laying around on the floor, oh well, the sky is not falling anyway, so never mind, getting my own sleep is more important than keeping the house tidy at that moment.

Important things is to remember asking them to do things that they can do by themselves.

I’m thankful that at least whatever that I’ve cooked, they’ve no complain and they even finished eating them (mostly.. except vege..). Am also thankful that they ate those sandwiches that I’ve prepared for them everyday.

What I’ve learn about my kids was… “Sigh… they are pain on the ass.”  LOL!

Somehow my boys become annoying and demanding, plus need some behavior and manners management. Probably when they are the one who is away to stay with my sister, they’ll be the more manageable ones.

So, Rebecca, listen, your kids are fine. Enjoyed your trip to Korea. Don’t forget to get me something from Korea, say like..err…Gourmet Gift Basket ? 333:))

I really salute those who has more than 3 kids, even more if the kids are very near in age. *Saluting with a serious face*