Volunteers?

In the past before we were parents the Mrs would bring her parents to nearby countries for short vacations every once in a while. She was always guilty that she was unable to spend more time with them so she will take them to short getaways while they are still mobile.

Ever since we became parents she has stopped this practice due to obvious reason but I know deep down she would very much like to continue. It is not easy trying to be a wife, mother and good daughter at the same time.

The past two years have not been very nice as we witnessed the passing of our friends’ parents. Friends who are actually about the same age as us which means their parents are probably around the same age as our parents as well. Early this year we learned of another friend whose mum was diagnosed with cancer and it was at the advanced stage already. Instead of opting to go through the chemo therapy she decided to live out her remaining days happy and she started off by visiting Japan first.

I believed that incident triggered something within the Mrs and she discussed with me if it is alright for her to bring her folks for a holiday. What started out to be a trip to Taiwan has now morphed into a trip to see the cherry blossom in Japan. So come this Saturday she will bring her parents to Hokkaido for a week. There will only be the three of them so it is not exactly a holiday for the Mrs for she will be taking care of the old folks but I believe seeing them enjoy themselves is reward enough.

So starting this weekend it will be just Ani and I taking care of the three kids. There are minimum changes in the day since I have always been involved in preparing the kids to go to their grandparents place and Isaac to school. Small changes are instead of having the Mrs bring Isaac to the teachers at his school I will have to part my car and run in. Rest of the days will be pretty same-o same-o for they will be at my parents place until I come back for them in the early evening.

Without the Mrs I can be home earlier actually which is not necessary a good thing. This automatically means I will be bringing them home earlier also and once home Ani will proceed with her daily chores of cleaning up the place and it will be them versus me for about 2 to 3 hours before they turn in.

Hmmmm….. maybe I should get Ani to deprive them their afternoon naps so they will retire earlier in the evening. Muhahahahaha!!!! Just kidding Darling.

Honestly I am not at all worried about sending Isaac to school on my own or tackling them alone in the evening. Ani has proven to be of great help and my kids are nice to us for they all sleep by 9pm which leaves me with a lot of ‘me’ time. With the Mrs in Japan I think it is time to buy another one or two Xbox game. Woohoo!!!

Where I need help my readers are what to do and where to go this weekend. Usually with the Mrs around it is already not easy bringing the 3 of them out. Somehow we always managed but with only Ani and I, going out is not such a good idea at all.

Recently I noticed we are attracting a lot of stares and attention whenever we eat out. The fact that the waiters have to remove 3 normal chairs and replace them with 3 highchairs will already arouse people’s curiosity. When they see us walking in and taking our seats I can almost sense their stares and gossips. They will discuss amongst themselves if all 3 kids are ours and seeing the twins they will have more questions; if they’re twins and the age gap between Isaac and the twins. Once they determined that they are all ours you can definitely sense their astonishment. “I wonder how they cope” and “What were they thinking” are probably the general sentiment.

Back to the dining table, Isaac will be demanding to feed himself and will want this and that before he decides it is time to explore the restaurant. The twins will usually be good and quiet so long as we continue to stuff food in their mouths. Come to think of it maybe their mouths are too full to make any noise. However even they have their off days sometime and with the 3 of them behaving the way they do these people are probably taking pity on us.

With the Mrs away I can assure you that we will not be eating out and if we do it will surely involve my parents. My main concern is what to do with them in the day? Where can I bring them to burn off their energy? Places like Polliwogs are no good because while Isaac can enjoy with me chasing after him Ani will be left to watch after the twins alone.

Staying at home the entire weekend is also a terrible idea for tackling them for 2 to 3 hours is tiring enough I can’t imagine having to manage them for so many hours. They will still stick to their daily nap routine but it still leaves us with a good 4 to 5 hours of activities to keep them occupied.

My bro, Mike was kind enough to invite us to hang around with him and his family this weekend for he said they can help us take care of the twins. Now that is a friend indeed.

So now the question is do I have another good friend in you my readers? Any volunteers to help babysit this weekend?