In case you were all sitting on pins and needles about my day yesterday, yes, I’m still here and unscathed. The kids are all okay. Better, even. Another afternoon on my own and I’m patting myself on the back with pride at how easy it was.

Perhaps because being with 4 kids still scares me, my radar is up all afternoon and I’m constantly trying to be proactive. Therefore the afternoon went smoothly.

Adam arrived home at 7:41pm to find 3 out of 4 kids fed, bathed, and asleep. Sam was asleep in my arms and not quite in the crib yet. I even managed to have a hot dinner ready and waiting for Adam. I am supermom.

The afternoon passed without much incident. Jack played ‘SushiCat’ and watched videos on my phone. For a brief moment he wanted to know what we were doing that afternoon. When I told him we were staying put, there was no way to take everyone out by myself, he was okay with that. Ben futzed around with his books, moving toys from room to room and occasionally sitting with Jack at the computer watching video games.

I’m still waiting for the day they can play together in earnest, but for right now I’m just happy there wasn’t a bunch of tattling and throwing toys at each other which evokes crying and tantrums. Let’s put it this way, unlike some other afternoons, my voice was not sore from yelling.

There was one incident when I thought the older boys were watching TV and eating dinner while I was bathing one of the twins. Ben ran into the room and sprinkled the salt shaker on me. I grabbed it and found it completely empty. Shaken all over the entire house. Five minutes after the cleaning lady left. I ran the vacuum, but my feet are still walking into patches of salt every so often.

Last night was another solid night for the twins. But the older boys didn’t do so well. As a result it was musical beds for Adam and I last night.

Jack woke at 10pm and Adam went to his bed to put him back to sleep. At 2am I woke to Aaron’s cries. I noticed Adam was back in our bed. I fed Aaron, changed his diaper and put him back in the crib, staying on the couch dozing until Sam woke at 3am. I had him back in the crib by 3:30 and went back in my bed to find it empty again. Then I heard Ben talking and realized Adam must now be in his bed. Sam cried out at 4:30am and I ran to his bed, but had the sense to realize he ate an hour ago. I let him fuss for a minute or two, then he fell back to sleep and I went back to the couch until 5:30am when Aaron woke and needed feeding.

Still, we went to sleep at 9:30pm so I got one REM cycle in again. So not complaining this morning! Plus I feel very happy to know I was able to handle the kids on my own again. Each time I do it I get more confidence. We can’t do much without help and I wouldn’t want it to be like this every day, but on occasion if necessary, I can handle it!