3-ring circus

i have agreed to take a day off next week to have a day of fun with my nieces and nephews who are in town (and some that are coming down in a few days).

my oldest stepbro has 6 kids, my middle stepbro has 4. there will be 10 kids all together, ranging in age from 13 to 3, doped up on summer heat and a vacation high.

Jesus, i'm going to need you. my parents (mom and stepdad) are taking off too and we're supposed to all hang out and do stuff with the kids. that averages about 3.3 kids per adult. i should be able to handle that, but these kids are wild. i love 'em, but they're wild.

please pray my sanity, patience, compassion and patience. and my parents are going to have them all week! Lord, help them too.

i'm excited to see them all - the group of 6 live in IL and the group of 4 live in PA, so i don't see them often. they've grown and changed so much since last time. i just have a feeling it's going to be a long, long day.

they are great, great kids, but my oldest stepbro's kids have no structure. their mom, bless her heart, is not organized, has set very few (if any) boundaries for them, and has provided them with no structure or daily routine. so those kids are all over the place - no set bedtimes, no concept of daily chores/helping out/picking up after themselves, and rules? what are those...never heard of those before. my mom kept the group of 6 (ages 13, 10, 9, 7, 4, and 3) over the weekend and just had me gasping for air from the intense laughter i just experienced, from the stories she was telling me. *whew* it was a zoo.

the kids are not "bad" or disrespectful, they are just...all over the place. and it is a great challenge to try to establish order and structure, even for just a week or a day, with kids who have none of that in their daily lives at home. so they are resistant to regulation. my parents are going to have a rough week. plus 4 more kids are coming down.

i feel for the kids and for their parents because structure and boundaries are essential to raising healthy-minded, healthy-bodied kids. they go to bed whenever they want, they do whatever they want whenever they want, they have no chores, no responsibilities. yeah kids should have fun and be kids, and i'm not saying run your house like a military base. but kids need structure, routines and boundaries. leaving toys, clothes, food, etc. all over the place is not acceptable. staying up all times of the night is not acceptable. making messes all over the house is not acceptable. most of them are old enough to be given household responsibilities and to understand following rules. their parents just don't establish that.

and dragonfly's mama and stepdaddy don't play that! LOL. so in the days that they've been in town, the kids have gotten a shock to their system having to all of a sudden follow a few rules.

they (the kids' parents) are doing those kids a great disservice by not instilling those things in them now. Lord help them when they get to be teenagers. having had no responsibility and boundaries, there's no telling what will happen when they get old enough to really get out there and get into trouble.

i guess i better fast, pray, meditate and hit the gym every day leading up to this outing. i'm not exaggerating - i'm going to need peace and stamina to make it through that day. so are my parents.

like i said, love those kids, but man...i feel drained already just thinking about it and it's still a week away.