Me, 3 kids, and a dog

I survived the first week of summer vacation! It wasn't easy. It was full of baseball games, a picnic, a trip to the water park, play dates, and more. It was downright chaotic at times, but I made it through with most of my sanity intact. And I did it despite sending Cory back to work and helping Adam watch the neighbor's dog while they were on vacation.

Yes, we have become official dog watchers. When the neighbors approached Adam about it, they said they would pay him $2 a day to do the following:

1. Go over to their house in the morning and let the dog out of the laundry room where she sleeps. 

2. Water the plants on the front porch. 

3.  Go over at night and put the dog in the laundry room to sleep. 

4. (Optional) take the dog for a walk. 

It all sounded so simple. I figured Adam could handle it with my help. So we agreed. It has now been 72 hours since we started. Adam, Sadie, and Tyler are enjoying the dog experience immensely, but I am worn out. The simple tasks we were given are not so simple with three kids in tow. I guess you could say I'm in no hurry to get a dog of our own. 

As instructed, we have walked across the street every morning to let Maggie out of her room. The kids squeal with delight as the dog jumps all over them. With the task complete, I am ready to head home, but the kids follow the dog into the backyard and start playing fetch. Poor Maggie is so confused with three kids running all over the yard, each throwing a different doggie toy. She doesn't know which toy to chase. So instead of coming right home, I spend part of my morning impatiently watching the chaos in the neighbor's backyard. When I am finally able to pull the kids away, we shut the fence and walk out front for Adam to water the flowers before we leave. 

Now, technically we are done with dog responsibilities until bedtime, but on the first day, we ended up back at the neighbors in the afternoon to play fetch. Then we went back again after dinner to take the little dog for a walk (which was quite the ordeal with three kids). Picture Adam holding the leash, Tyler running after him, and Sadie all over the place on her bike getting tangled up in the leash as the dog stopped on every other lawn to sniff and paw the grass. Let's just say that first day wore me out. After we had story time, put the dog and the kids to bed, I was ready to collapse. 

Day number two was easier. We cut out the afternoon game of fetch, but the evening walk was still a bit of a circus.

Day number three was just plain busy. Between the morning trip to the neighbor's, my workout, and an afternoon play date at our house. We were swamped. When the parents came to pick up the friend, they stayed awhile to chat, so we were late having dinner, late for the evening dog walk/game of fetch, and late for the Saturday night bath. As I herded the kids in the house for bath time, the phone rang. So as I'm trying to talk on the phone and get bath water going, kids are stripping off clothes. Then Tyler proceeds to pee all over the floor. I managed to get the mess cleaned up and the kids bathed before hurrying downstairs to fix milk before storytime. 

The evening is finally winding down. All three kids and the dog are now in bed. I guess I'm not the only one who's had a big week. Two kids fell asleep during storytime...

Well, by this time tomorrow, the neighbors will be home, and our dog watching job will be over. I'm glad the kids had the experience of taking care of a pet, but I'm ready to have one less thing on my plate. If the rest of my summer is as busy as this week has been, I may have to start drinking caffeinated soda. :)