Outnumbered

Something happened to me on the weekend that made me feel old and young at the same time.

Friends of ours who own an acreage had us over for a BBQ on Saturday. There were 8 adults, and those with kids brought them (obviously). There were just as many kids as adults!! 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5 and 6 year olds, and 2 newborns! Two of the couples have 3 kids, and one has 2 kids.

Then there was me and Colin.

The "old" feeling came from hanging out with some friends, who all had mutiple half-lings. The "young" feeling was due to the fact that we don't have any!

We're no strangers to children, but I don't think we've ever been outnumbered like this before!

It was a different evening than we're used to, but was both amuzing and fun. Instead of a candlelit dinner with a table cloth and soft music, it's "Everybody outside! If you spill the dog will get it".

It was funny to observe the parents going through their "dinner" routine, demonstrating how well they know their kids' specific tastes, and how much it has become second nature. One likes the hot dog cut into lengthwise strips, ketchup on the side, hold the bun. One likes it cut widthwise with mustard to dip it into. Bun on the side. One wants to do it herself, so has a hot dog in a bun, with a LOT of ketchup!

Colin and I served ourselves after our offer to help was turned down (and I see why...I wouldn't know how to make the kid's dinners properly), and went outside to eat. We looked around. All the kids were outside eating or being served. No adults around except us! They were all busy taking turns fulfilling requests, and eventually joined us outside to eat.

It was also fun to see the different personalities of each child, even though I don't know some of them well. There's the pixie-like 1 year old whose favorite task was to chase the chickens, yelling "kikkin!!!". The adventurous 4 year old boy who walks barefoot through the wilderness. The 6 year old girl who makes sure everyone has someone to play with, and the laid-back 2 year old girl who was learning how to drive a tractor. A REAL tractor.

Someday, we'll join the ranks of parents and all of this will (hopefully) become second nature. On this side of things, it seems scary! REALLY SCARY!!!! I hope that when the time comes we'll be able to roll with the punches and be good parents like the ones I observe.