Props to the parents

TCB and I are hosting our 12-year-old nephew for two weeks and I am quickly gaining a deeper respect for the parents I know. He's a great kid, really, he is, it's just that he's a kid: forgetful, messy, and high-maintenance. I honestly believe he'd forget his head if it wasn't attached permanently! And then there's the fact that TCB and I are self-indulgent and lazy...if we don't feel like eating until 8:00 pm on a weeknight, that's what we do. If we want to lie around on a weekend doing nothing but watching TV or surfing the internet, again, that's what we do. We cannot do this sort of thing with The Kid around, though.

New rules in place while The Kid is visiting:
1. No more than an hour of TV or video games or internet. That's an hour total, all three media combined. This is about to kill me, I think.

2. Bed must be made and all clothes put away properly before we leave in the morning. This is killing me more than TCB because he leaves earlier than I do and so does not have to contribute to this. (Things are going to change Saturday and Sunday mornings, though!)

3. Non-screen based activities (see Rule #1) must be planned for every evening and weekend day because a bored Kid is not a joy to be around. In the last week, I've played Monopoly, Life, and Sorry, and I think Clue is on deck for tonight. (TCB and The Kid played Yahtzee Tuesday night but I had a headache and didn't participate.) I'm trying to figure out what to do over the very long weekend...I'm even contemplating bowling, and I've never bowled.

4. Lunches must be packed each day. The Kid has to take a lunch plus two snacks plus adequate water for the entire day to Day Camp, and we are doing so as well.

5. The Kid must be dropped off at a local parking lot between 8:00 and 8:10 am each morning and picked up at the same location between 4:30 and 4:50 each evening, something that requires a discipline not often seen in the Denise/TCB household. The result? Text messages such as, "I can't get him tomorrow, can you?" and "Do you have him? Are you really sure, because I'm stuck in traffic and I hope you're there!"

We will survive this challenge, certainly, but any pipe dreams I might have had of our fostering or adopting a child are distant memories; at this point, just watching Burn Notice together after a stressful day at work sounds like Heaven. To those raising children or grandchildren, I salute you...you are doing God's work!