My Free Pass to the Circus

What a delightful two days it's been.  Tiring, for sure.  But also delightful.  Crystal often talks of juggling her roles and I now firmly believe she couldn't be doing it any better.

This was my first time playing the role of Aunt Karen and part-time mom.

And I now know first hand that Circus couldn't be a better analogy.  Things I've observed....

This is a very ORGANIZED circus.
Before Crystal left she gave me a fully typed two page instruction sheet.  This was no double-spaced venture, either.  Everything from the predictable put-them-down-for-naps sequence to getting-out-of-the-minivan and refereeing the daily race to the front door.

Not kidding.

So if I found myself in a lurch, I defaulted to The List.  So much so that my nephew took to saying with regularity, "What does The List say?" or "Have you checked The List?"  Last night after reading the kids their bedtime story and kissing them goodnight something was wrong.  I couldn't quite understand what I missed so I went to check The List.  My mom (a.k.a. Nana, Life-Saver, Child-Distracter) heard him mutter under his breath,

"I don't know why they don't read the directions."

Ah, I forgot the lullaby.  That's an easy fix: lullaby sung, foreheads kissed, crisis averted.

Gratefully this is also a FLEXIBLE circus.
When I referred to the list for lunch instructions, it read "sandwiches, meat and cheese".  The only problem is that I couldn't find the bread or lunch meat.  Hm.  My nephew came to the rescue.  How about tortilla roll-ups?  But what do you put in a roll-up if you don't have meat?  Cheese, peanut butter and red bell peppers, of course.  And they loved them.  (Um, I had a bowl of Cheerios.)

Good improv, little guy.

And lastly, it's an HONEST circus.
Let me leave you with perhaps my favorite moment.

My Niece:  "My pants are falling down."

Me:  "You need a bigger butt."

My Nephew:  "Like yours?"

Rookie mistake.  I walked right into that one.

Thanks, Crystal.  I hope you had a great time in TX.  The Circus has been fun, if not humbling.