Too Many Kids, Obviously...

So yesterday I lost Boo for a while.

Don't worry, I got her back.

It was just that I was ready to take GG to her guitar lesson, and Boo was inside a friend's house instead of at the playground like I thought, so she did not come when I called her.

I was also distracted by the fact that my kitchen sink had been stopped up all day (standing water mixed with food scraps--ewwww), and the repairman arrived just as I was getting ready to leave, and ET's friend had also just arrived for a visit as well.

So I delegated. I sent GG to look for Boo. She came back with a shrug and a casual, "Couldn't find her."

By this time my husband had arrived home, so he could babysit the repairman (and the twins!). Which was great. Except that I couldn't leave until Boo was accounted for.

So ET rolled her eyes and said she and her friend would go find Boo.

In the meantime I quizzed GG on exactly where she had looked for Boo. It turned out she had not canvassed the homes of all four friends in the area; she had only checked one house. So I sent her out to look again, and resumed hollering Boo's name.

At that point Boo popped her head out of her friend's upstairs window, and I called GG back.

So we were ready to go, except for the fact that ET was still out looking for Boo. I texted her, "Got Boo," (the best way to communicate with ET--she NEVER ignores a text) and waited in the yard for her to get back.

While I was standing there my neighbor walked up. I told her I was waiting for a child I had sent out to look for another child, and that we were going to take a third child to her lesson.

After she deciphered THAT statement, she joked, "Well, you know what the problem is. You just have too many kids! There's no one to blame but yourself for that one!"

I laughed, but really. Is five SO many? We're not the Duggars here, you know.

Who are, by the way, according to the latest issue of "People" magazine (currently sitting in my bathroom), ready for MORE kids!

So ET finally showed up, all in a snit because she'd climbed a fence while looking for Boo and gotten dirt on her skinny jeans.

Well, who asked you to CLIMB A FENCE?! I mean, really, in what universe is that necessary?

Then she spent the next ten minutes complaining about having to look for Boo, and suggesting various punishments Boo should receive for inconveniencing her so severely.

Thanks SO MUCH for the parenting advice, 13-year-old child!

I told her that when she had her own kids she could punish them all she wanted, but to please STOP telling me how to raise mine.

She retorted, "Don't WORRY Mom, I'm not going to HAVE any kids! Thanks to YOU! You just have TOO MANY!"

So I've been told....