Words of Wisdom

OK, so I'm not really a mother of 5, but if you read my last post, you'll know that I just babysat my 2 nieces and 2 nephews for almost 2 weeks! I can't believe I survived it, but I'm finally home and I can live to tell about it. So, I came up with a few pieces of advice from the things that I learned (not that I'm as qualified as most of you who will read this). They're not in any particular order either.
1. Put yourself in time-out once in a while. I decided that instead of running around while the babies took naps, tidying up and such and being busy, I would take a break too. As the days wore on, that time became my sanity and I couldn't function without it.
2. Forget about ever eating. After feeding the twins and Shelby and getting dinner ready for the rest of us then cleaning up the babies and cleaning up dinner, I didn't ever have much time to eat. I actually lost about 3 or 4 pounds as a result!
3. Forget about sleeping too for that matter. Whether it was getting up for puking kids (3 of them did), or changing diarrhea diapers, whether the covers just came off or the weird sounds houses make at night, it seems like just as I would get back to sleep, I would suddenly awake to something else.
4. You might as well just forget about showering too. (remember the previous post?)
5. Don't referee. I once heard Kate Gosling, that show on Discovery Channel "Jon & Kate + 8" (they have twins and sextuplets), say you just can't break up all the fighting and bickering that will go on, otherwise you'll spend your whole time doing it. 6. Remember to laugh. Thank goodness for little Joshua, 4 years old, he's hilarious. He gave me a good laugh every day. My favorite was when Ben came down and he took Josh to Wal-Mart. Ben asked him what he should get me for Christmas and he replied, "Well, does she have a dancing dress?" I wish I did, but my dancing days are over.
7. Get out once in a while. It was quite overwhelming even thinking about taking all those kids out, but sometimes we all just needed a change of scenery. One time I ventured out to Wal-Mart with 4 of the kids, Parson was still at school. I had Shelby in the front of the cart and the twins in the back part and Josh walked. Going down one of the isles, one lady just stopped and patted me on my back in disbelief and said, "Oh, bless you!"
8. Invest in a babysitter, or 2. Sometimes the Nintendo or Baby Einsteins for the kids was all I could do to get a break or some peace.
So, there you have it. Most of you, I'm sure, know leaps and bounds more than this, but I still consider myself a novice at the whole mothering thing.