An overnight stay for 4 at Grandma's

WOW, over the weekend I and my (80 year old mother) babysat my sons beautiful FOUR children overnight.  FIRST TIME we have had all 4 for a sleep over.  These are beautiful children, but the younger ones do not stay away from home, nor do they have good sleep routines.  To top it off, the parents forgot to pack the 'dummy' for the 20 month old youngest.

Now normally all this should not be too confronting, BUT, I am quite physically challenged with severe osteoarthritis and struggle to look after ME.  

So, Gran and I prepared all week, the 2 little girls (6 years & 20 months) were going to sleep with me in my large bed, and the 2 boys (4 & 12 years) together in the spare room.  Dinner was prepared before arrival, TV protected from little fingers, toys brought out, special games downloaded onto computer, my bedroom dusted & vacuumed and the spare bed made up with warm sheets and room aired.

I asked that they arrive bathed as I cannot lift in & out of bath. (I am starting to sound like a real dragon, but I need to be realistic.)

(Not a great pic, but getting them all to do the right thing at the same time is difficult, this was after breakfast, whilst we were tidying kitchen & bedrooms.  All 4 playing with duplo.)

I shan't go into all the nitty gritty but they did arrive bathed and ready for bed, had a small play and then we sat down to lasagne and garlic bread.  The 4 year old had already said 'grandma, I don't like vegetables', but Grandma had incorporated many vegetables in the lasagne and he ate quite a large serve.  They all ate well and were rewarded with an ice cream cone and sprinkles buried in the middle of the serve of ice cream. It all went very well, so far all was terrific.  (Hadn't noticed missing dummy yet!)

Small play time ensued as I prepared sleeping routines and Gran cleaned up the kitchen, I wanted all to go smoothly as Gran loves watching the football and this started at 7.00pm.  The 6 year old decides she is getting into bed to watch TV, the 12 year old is on the computer with Mr 4 hovering by him.  I change baby and lay her on my bed with a bottle of milk...all going fine so far...meanwhile I am searching through the bag for the dreaded dummy and trying to get Mr 4 into bed.  NO DUMMY, by now I have every one looking, bottle is finished and she is screaming for the dummy. (Now I know why they call it a pacifier, I am beginning to need one at this stage.)  I find an old dummy I remembered I had in a drawer and send it out to be soaked in boiling water by poor Gran. But alas, she will have no part of this strange object that grandma was trying to shove in her mouth.  Tried more milk...NO,  only wanted dummy.  In desperation I call the father, and I get 'oh f#*@ I forgot to look for it, I got side tracked, sorry mum'.  It's fine for him to forget, but what am I supposed to do - I was told she will drop eventually, "lucky me".
Thank goodness for Mr 12, he is such a wonderful young boy and a truly marvellous big brother.  He took total control and tried to cajole and soothe, and all she wanted was the computer. (compoooter)  So after he tried to get her cuddling soft toys etc. he sat at the computer with her on his knee and she eventually just dropped off to sleep.
Miss 6 was asleep, Mr 4 kept finding excuses but I laid on the bed with him and told him stories and he soon dropped off, baby was asleep (now in my bed) and Mr 12 was given supper and let play computer for an hour or so with no interference from the little people.  Peace reigned.  

We did have a few disturbances during the night, but these 4 little beauties slept pretty well all considering, although I didn't get a great deal of sleep.  At  7 am I realised someone was sitting up looking at me in the bed and 2 boys appeared at the door.  Not a bad effort. And the process of getting dressed and fed commences.
My thanks go out to my Mum (Gran) and Mr 12, as these 2 people are the reasons that the visit went so well.  Also a special mention to Miss 6 as she kept things tidy and was very co-operative  with everyone and did assist wherever she could.  They are a beautiful little group, polite, courteous and well behaved and I feel very blessed to have these 4 and their gorgeous little cousin in my life.  If only the adults would remember to pack the required necessities.

By the way, I went to bed at 3.00pm that afternoon for a nanna nap, I was exhausted, but very proud of the fact that we had managed and enjoyed the company of 4 very pleasant people but vowing not to do it too often.