Oh my, NOT AGAIN!??????????

Question

My brother-in-law's mother had a stroke 3 months ago. His mother lives 2 hours away. My sister and he husband went to visit her right and left his kids (7, 7, 5, 3, 14 months) with me for a week. Everything was going well, but now the doctors are worried. My sister and her husband are going down there. The kids can't miss school (it JUST started) so they are going to be stayings with....... me! LOL.

It could be for 7 nights, maybe even more! I really want everyone getting good nights sleep. This time I am going to have to be a little stricter. We have 3 bedrooms (techincally they are offices, but they aren't used so we turned them into bedrooms) that they use. The twins share, the 5 year old, 3 year old, then the baby sleeps in with Grace (my baby).

I just need tips for staying alive. They are getting dropped of at 7:00am tomorrow!

Answer 1

Don't panic! Think "Summer Camp". yeah I know it may SOUND silly, but one thing you share with camp counselors is this: you have a load of children at once, you're responible for feeding, grooming, getting them to activities (or school), giving them their medicine, etc. but the silver lining is that it's only for 7 days.

Thankfully you have two 7 year old that you can employ as your "big helpers" even if it's little things like keeping the little ones busy while you prepare meals. They may even be able to help with feeding the very little ones.

Remember, they're probably gonna be worried about grandma (or if they don't know, they're gonna need help not knowing!) Keep them distracted all while having them help you out and reward them. Give them extra tv time, or board games and such....

Answer 2

do you use charts?  they get to put stars on it if they help out, if they share or take turns.....if they brush their teeth and go to bed etc then on fridays (or whenever ) if you have this many stars you get this reward.....or you get to reach in the reward box this many times....put crafts, puzzles, fun stuff in the box.  and if everyone gets stars then a slumber party in the living room with pizza an dmovies or a trip to the zoo or whatever is close to you.

You sound like a very loving kind person and you probably dont really need any tips...you just need to hear us say "it will be ok, it will be a great week, and power to you! you rock!"

Answer 3

Wow, heres my story.  I have three kids (6, 4, and 11 months) My brother has 1 (she is 14 months) and mom who did foster care and then adopted them has 5 (they are 12, 9, 7, 5, 5) and my brother in law has a 3 month old and a 2 year old.   True story!!!!  

My mom watches the kids during the day while I work and we all pitch in to give eachother 'breaks'   Let me tell you that when I have the kids the backyard is my best friend!!!  I have a sprinkler that the older kids love to play in!  And the babies play with eachother.   Good luck to you my dear ~  Try not to get to stressed!  

P.S.  You're a good sis!

Answer 4

oh my god 10 kids ...... i salute you !!!

first off , save time with easy cook meals , lots of dvd's and games

do you have an old child ? like a teen that could take a few of them to the park for a few hours each day?

anyway good luck lol

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Answer 5

Make sure the school knows so they can make allowances - the kids may be upset about Granny being ill, and they may not have everything they should have if parents are distracted when they pack.