Real Housewives of Connecticut

I am very lucky be very close in age to my dad's baby sister.  When my brother and I were growing up, it wasn't uncommon for us to spend months at a time with her over the summer.  She is my brother's God mother, and she and I were inseparable for most of my life (to the point where I cried every time she had to go home after visiting us!).  I didn't have a sister growing up, but she was the closest thing to it!

The spread for the bday girl!

So when she found out that she and my uncle would be out of town for my cousin's graduation from Notre Dame, there was NO question that I would gladly help them out by staying with their kids for the weekend.  I've never lived very close to them until we moved to New York, so a weekend with those three little muchkins was something I would never pass up.  I left the boys at home since Mike had been traveling, and I didn't want to have to worry about getting Winston to and from Connecticut on a crowded train during rush hour.


Between the three of them, there was 8 hours of dress rehearsal for a recital, a 3 hour dance recital, a 14th birthday, an 8th grade dance, and a baseball game, phew!  I was definitely up for the weekend with some of my favorite little coussies, but was a little nervous about being the sole care taker for three children!  I was nervous about someone getting hurt in my care.  I was nervous that I wouldn't be good at doing their "stage makeup" for the recital.  I was nervous that I would get lost somewhere driving between all their activities.  I was nervous that something would happen to the house while I was sleeping.  I was nervous that I would do something terrible like run over one of the kids bikes (oh wait...I've already done that).  I was nervous that the house would be ugly and not clean when my aunt/uncle came home and they would be cursing my name for having to return to a dirty house.  I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to make them all feel special about their birthdays/games/recitals.  And I think Susanne was a little nervous too, because she left me one billion notes all over the counter. 

Birthday dinner for Bella Boo!

But the weekend was a success!  The kids were great.  They killed it in their perspective activities!  Patrick hit a triple, the girls both won awards at their dance recital, and Juliette even came away with a little scholarship!  And I must say, they looked like the most beautiful little dancers in the entire world (might have had something to do with my new found skills in applying stage makeup, I think I missed my calling!).  I was such a proud cousin!  We had an awesome night celebrating Belle's big 14th birthday!!! With the exception of a few mishaps caused by the new family puppy, everything went off without a hitch.   


 As the weekend approached, people kept teasing or joking about how this would be a little test as to how ready I was for motherhood and whether or not I'm prepared for the suburban life as a Real Housewife of Connecticut, and I'm not sure those questions were answered.  The three of them are remarkable little people, and made my life REALLY easy for the 60 or so hours that they were in my care.  I think it was more of a testament  to how organized I could be and how well I could manage time in between all the activities. I don't know yet when Mike and I will decide to start a family, but when we do have little Weemobs babies, I hope they are just like these crazy kids!!!!