we have had the great fortune of spending the last month with aunt bonnie from "abraska." she was extremely gracious to stay at our nuthouse for so long. certainly when she gets home she'll sleep for days and possibly seek out a presciption for anti-anxiety medicine. but for us, having a houseguest was a great diversion for the kids, and a welcome change to our routine. on our way up to bed last night beans was still calling for aunt bonnie (over and over and over again). he is becoming very proficient in a lot of new words. he really took a leap when he figured out how to link aunt and bonnie together. it sounds much more like "aaahhh bunny."
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the challenging part of having a houseguest (however gracious) for an extended period of time is the whole new perspective on parental inadequacies you get. i don't know if anyone can relate to my crazy need to make my children appear perfect to "others." anyone who truly knows me is probably falling off their seats in laughter. the harder you try, the worse they get. and it's just downright impossible to make toddler/ preschoolers behave for any consistent time period longer than 15 minutes. there were a couple of times where we found aunt bonnie in the corner of the guest bedroom biting her nails and pulling her hair out, but other than that i think she loves us.
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the most bittersweet moments for me were spending time with her at my dad's house, aunt bonnie's family home. we went through a lot of old pictures and sifted through so many memories. i tried to soak in as many stories as i possibly could. i feel so sad that i didn't listen to my dad more when he shared about his family. i always thought i would have more time to really ask questions and try to put names with faces and stories with pictures. it's a big responsibility that aunt bonnie has being the last record keeper of her nuclear family. we talked a lot about what she is able to identify herself with now that she (in her terms) is no longer a daughter, a wife or a sister. it's a troublesome prospect...focusing more time on what you are rather than looking back at what you were. to me, she will always be crazy aunt bonnie, and a good friend to so many.
That last part made me tear up..... But t awnser your question, yes kids will act up and do the most impossible things when you have company...like my kids fro example, they don;t want anything to do with me until the phone rings and then it "MOMMMM" about 20,000 times...
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