Double Trouble

So as of tonight, I have a matched set of 11 year olds for a few days. Yes, they're multiplying!

I've gotten to know the mum of one of Elijah's mates over the last year. We've become friends whilst bonding over pool parties, theme parks and playdates, not to mention the issues of raising boys on our own...sometimes they're like an alien species.
I'd hazard a guess we're even better friends than the kids these days as in typical 11 year old fashion the kids completely get on each others nerves after prolonged periods together and snipe at each other like bitchy teenage girls or people who really, really hate each other. Frenemies. Taking them back to their respective homes is usually the only way to stop the drama, and by the time they see each other again they've generally forgotten all about it.

I knew my friend was having some family issues, and this is not easy when you live half a world away from them. So when she rang and asked me if I could look after Z so she could go home for a flying visit, it wasn't even a question.

But if I'm being brutally honest, I'm just the tiniest bit shaking in my boots. Just a little.

Let me preface this by saying when the boys are good, they are amazing! Seriously the most fun kids I know, we have had some awesome times together. It doesn't hurt that Z has been raised to respect other people's houses and things and will always (and I mean always) leave things exactly the way he found them. He's ridiculously intelligent and enjoys talking to adults just as much as his mates.

But history has shown us that prolonged exposure can be lethal...and this time there's no getting away from each other, particularly not in a 2 bedroom unit! Not to mention the different schedules they have in eating/showering/bedtime etc.

So these are my thoughts. As soon as Z arrives tonight, we all sit down and get the kids to determine the ground rules. Make sure his mum is there too so he's aware that she knows too.

Write down the rules and hang them up on the fridge.

Kids to sleep separately! Z can have E's bedroom so he has his own space, can shut the door and get away from things.

Each kid to have their own signal which means ENOUGH! Each other kid to respect it (cause that's gonna happen).

Failing that, I'm borrowing Cathy's valium.

xx