I kinda like the idea of sending the four girls to four separate houses for a weekend. I see each host family as competing to be the “most fun uncle or auntie” and having the other kids clamor to visit THEM next time! This could be good!
<<The best solution would be to send the girls to stay with four separate family members in four separate houses.>> This. When my husband and I first got married, way before our own kids, we used to take his nephews one at a time for a special weekend with Aunt and Uncle. Their parents had kids bam bam bam so they always had sibs around. It was easier for us, one kid, but the nephews who are grown now still talk about "their" weekend away from all their siblings when we see them.
I have a feeling the girls would complain about being separated or being together! My boys were 17 & 15 when they were left overnight for the first time. I told them there could be no damage to the house, and they could not hurt each other to the point I would have to fill out paperwork or clean up blood. Surprisingly, they complied.
Can you rope someone into staying at your house with them? Sending them 4 different places would be fun for them too, I'm sure. But that's a lot more favors you have to pay back. ;-)
Good point. I have to keep my favor debt under control. I might be able to talk my in-laws into staying here, but I already owe my father-in-law a life debt for building my porch. I'm not sure I can afford him anymore.
Be glad you have girls! I have three boys and the youngest is a girl. (All grown, thank God). We came home from an outing one day, and the middle son was on the porch, pouting. Why? Because they'd gotten into a KNIFE FIGHT, and he lost! You know the knives-the big, butcher knife and the long, serrated bread knife! (Apparently, they make excellent swords!) 🤦🏼♀️
Eventually you can let Betsy to stay at home and send only the younger ones to grandparents. But before you do that, you probably should read The Sun Cream Bro Saga on Reddit. He was 19 and was asking help on the internet because he didn’t know how to take younger sister to emergency care.
"If I tell people I left my almost-fifteen-year-old in charge for a day, they shrug, but if I told them I let her watch the kids overnight, they’d have to stifle a gasp." - that was sort of thing in my experience. With bros. ever since I turned ten we were often left alone for a day, but staying overnight(s) by ourselves was off for a long time. And rightly so, even without the burned trash can story getting discovered. I already told the following one, but the first time we were home alone my brother and I managed to cause "ecological disaster", when we accidentally left some eggs to rot, hiding them with a drying kitchen board and after throwing away suspected cucumbers airing off the place by a fan. Not the greatest deed to admit calling parents, but still less troublesome than cleaning the room or pulling out a tick from our cat's rear a day earlier. It ended with shame being our eventual punishment and luckily all further stay-alones were without any adventures.
I pray my children never discover the prank of hiding eggs to rot. They hide the plastic ones for their own Easter egg hunts, but the evil of using real ones would appeal to them.
I kinda like the idea of sending the four girls to four separate houses for a weekend. I see each host family as competing to be the “most fun uncle or auntie” and having the other kids clamor to visit THEM next time! This could be good!
The kids would enjoy milking that competition for all it was worth.
Don’t wish them to grow up too fast. I get the temptation but they’re such good kids. Enjoy them.
<<The best solution would be to send the girls to stay with four separate family members in four separate houses.>> This. When my husband and I first got married, way before our own kids, we used to take his nephews one at a time for a special weekend with Aunt and Uncle. Their parents had kids bam bam bam so they always had sibs around. It was easier for us, one kid, but the nephews who are grown now still talk about "their" weekend away from all their siblings when we see them.
Sounds amazing. One memorable weekend beats 52 forgettable ones. Cool aunts and uncles have a clear advantage over parents.
“…that will be the sentence that haunts me.” I drew looks at work laughing out loud at that one.
I have a feeling the girls would complain about being separated or being together! My boys were 17 & 15 when they were left overnight for the first time. I told them there could be no damage to the house, and they could not hurt each other to the point I would have to fill out paperwork or clean up blood. Surprisingly, they complied.
Those are perfectly reasonable terms. It's a shame kids find them so hard to follow.
Can you rope someone into staying at your house with them? Sending them 4 different places would be fun for them too, I'm sure. But that's a lot more favors you have to pay back. ;-)
Good point. I have to keep my favor debt under control. I might be able to talk my in-laws into staying here, but I already owe my father-in-law a life debt for building my porch. I'm not sure I can afford him anymore.
Be glad you have girls! I have three boys and the youngest is a girl. (All grown, thank God). We came home from an outing one day, and the middle son was on the porch, pouting. Why? Because they'd gotten into a KNIFE FIGHT, and he lost! You know the knives-the big, butcher knife and the long, serrated bread knife! (Apparently, they make excellent swords!) 🤦🏼♀️
Consider yourself an amazing parent if those boys made it to adulthood with all their fingers still attached.
Yet another example where Star Trek teleporters cannot come soon enough…
Eventually you can let Betsy to stay at home and send only the younger ones to grandparents. But before you do that, you probably should read The Sun Cream Bro Saga on Reddit. He was 19 and was asking help on the internet because he didn’t know how to take younger sister to emergency care.
I cannot find that story. Tell me more, please.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/s/zd9NI2Cxnu I hope the link works
Oh, my goodness! Thanks for that!
My son is 22 and out of the house but this brought back memories. Very relatable.
Send them to camp
Maybe the older girls can find friend to stay with over that weekend.
Also a thought. The danger their is that then we owe those friends a sleepover at our house.
True, but at this point, what’s one more?!
One more, not much. Four more is a big deal.
"If I tell people I left my almost-fifteen-year-old in charge for a day, they shrug, but if I told them I let her watch the kids overnight, they’d have to stifle a gasp." - that was sort of thing in my experience. With bros. ever since I turned ten we were often left alone for a day, but staying overnight(s) by ourselves was off for a long time. And rightly so, even without the burned trash can story getting discovered. I already told the following one, but the first time we were home alone my brother and I managed to cause "ecological disaster", when we accidentally left some eggs to rot, hiding them with a drying kitchen board and after throwing away suspected cucumbers airing off the place by a fan. Not the greatest deed to admit calling parents, but still less troublesome than cleaning the room or pulling out a tick from our cat's rear a day earlier. It ended with shame being our eventual punishment and luckily all further stay-alones were without any adventures.
I pray my children never discover the prank of hiding eggs to rot. They hide the plastic ones for their own Easter egg hunts, but the evil of using real ones would appeal to them.