I love my kids.  Really, I do.  They are so dang cute and say the funniest things.  But they are so DANG much work!  From having to wake up with them at the crack of dawn to finding things to entertain them all day long to just trying to keep them from hurting themselves.  It makes me tired. 

I’m always hearing about how much people miss their kids when they are away from them, but you know what…

I don’t miss my kids!

I need time away from them.  When they go to grandma’s for the night, or just to day care for the 4.5 hours a day that I work – that’s my time to be sane.  It’s my time to think about things other than poopy diapers, snotty noses and the last time someone else took a bath.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my children immensely, I’m just one of those people who also needs time away.  I’m sure that if I was away long enough I would miss them.  In fact when we were in Mexico last summer I started to miss them…a little.  If I was away from them for too long I might miss one of those funny Brad-ism’s and that would be a shame.  But I just cannot identify with people who never want to be away from their kids.

Ok, you all probably think I’m evil now, so why am I telling you this?  I’m just trying to keep it real.  Today I read Kristen’s blog and it totally hit home that we often blog about the best of times – the amazing art projects we come up with, the great outings we go on, how crafty we are, etc.  I suppose that’s because if we blogged about the entire afternoon we spent sitting in front of the tv eating goldfish crackers it would be pretty boring.  Either way, it’s real.

So how do you keep it real?

He’s obviously thought this through

Yesterday I told Brad he could not do something that he wanted to do.  It happens several times a day because he wants to do things like invite everyone he knows over for an impromptu barbecue, fly down the stairs with a bungee cord attached to his knight costume or trade his sister her valentine’s day candy for a piece of toilet paper.  It happens a lot.

Anyway, when I told him no this time he informed me he was going to run away.  I told him that was a really bad idea and that if he ran away he would have no one to take care of him, to which he responded “DUH!  Tenille!” (Tenille is my sister who I’m sure would take him in without notice).  I said, “How would you get to Tenille’s house?” (which is 35 miles away)  and he replied “I would take a cab.”  I’m not even sure how he understands the concept of a cab except that this kid remembers everything.  So then I asked “How would you pay for a cab?” to which he answered “I would hold a sale of all my McDonalds toys.”

He’s obviously thought this through, so my question is, how much would you pay for this?