This weekend offered one of those moments where I realize exactly how much I’ve changed in the last decade. Howard’s brother and family made arrangements to come to my house for Saturday afternoon. This is happy since they’re visiting from Georgia and we don’t see them often. This represented an influx of two adults and five girls 8 and under. Add that to our household count and we were planning on 4 adults and 9 children. Howard’s other brother also wanted to come visit since brotherly togetherness is a good thing. He brought his two girls ages 5 and 2. (5 adults, 11 kids) Then on Friday night my brother called. He and his family were driving through on their way home. They wanted to stop by and spend the night. Without batting an eye, I told them it was fine. (Total people: 7 adults, 16 kids) I was fully prepared to feed and entertain everyone and wasn’t the least bit stressed over the influx. When did I become comfortable feeding and housing big crowds on short notice? I remember that kind of thing used to be stressful.
Perhaps the lack of stress is in part because I’m so glad to see everyone. My kids had a great time. The adults got to do some talking, but not as much as we would have liked. Cranky little girls pulled Howard’s brothers away to where they could put kids to bed. They left before dinner, so I didn’t have to feed everyone after all. (Only 4 adults, 9 kids fed) My brother’s family is extending their stay due to a vehicular breakdown, so I get to have company through Monday. I’m glad. I love talking with my sister-in-law and my kids love playing with their cousins. Even better, we may have hatched a plan that will provide child care for the kids while I’m at Worldcon. There are a few more consultations to make before everything is set, but it looks really good right now.