So, is this a sign?

Summer is coming, school is ending and we are in the process of deciding what to do with the girls for their summer break and have started looking for a sitter. Their first sitter - EVER - at first they were more worried about it than we were but now the tables are switching. So far all we have done is ask around at our Churches and hung flyers at the local University which has resulted in about 3 names.

However....we have been thinking about this since January....and these are the events that have happened...coincidence....or a sign.....you be the judge....

February - the fire in the kitchen - seemed to have kept their wits about them and put it out. Plus talk of getting them a phone to have on them while they are with the sitter just as they loose their DS in the house somewhere, becuase we had not bought them a carrying case for it. (they found it and are, according to them, now ready for the responsibility of a phone)

Early March - had an accident on the swing set, that included loss of skin and blood, Jason was home and knew nothing about it. I walked in from work and asked Reagan why she had the largest bandage we have on her arm. Apparently she skinned the upper back part of her arm and called her partner in crime, Avery, to patch it up since and I quote "she does not have eyes in the back of her head." I asked why they did not call for an adult's help and they shrugged their shoulders. "Of course not" I replied, "why would you call for an adult for a minor injury when you put out fires as a team?!" And then asked them if they were going to be responsible enough for a college-aged person to watch them.

Last week - I am at work, Jason is mowing and the girls are outside playing. Until Hoss speaks to them in only a language that they understand and informs them that he is so very hungry. But when Reagan gets back with a piece of gourmet deli meat he is in the front horse pasture....so of course it makes total sense to climb the gate and follow him......after all the horses were in the back eating and she can "so outrun them." Right. One would think that doing this once and getting caught by Jason would be enough for A) Reagan to stay out of the field and B) cause Jason to go into cardiac arrest.....but no. She was found in the field a second time by Jason and surprisingly enough Jason lived to tell me about it when I pulled in from work.
The girls were also spotted on their way to the drive to follow Hoss again, most likely because he had asked for some dessert.

Today - Girls are out playing soccer. I am pulling in bikes and Jason is cooking dinner. The wind was crazy today and Jason has picked up the trash that had fallen out from the trashcans earlier in the day....except for one plastic bag and one Mayo Jar on the back side. I walk around trying to find the girls and find them with Avery picking up pieces of glass from the back bedroom porch. I shout at her to freeze and then ask what in the heck she was doing. She threw it at the concrete because she wanted to 'see what would happen'. Seriously?? I told them to leave it alone and to get inside for dinner. I also told them that they keep doing things to make me think that a sitter is a bad idea and a summer at LatchKey (the program at school) is the better way to go. Avery cried and kept apologizing all the way inside which seemed like a long time and even forgave me. Forgave me? For what?

Later the table was set and we were missing one of our short legged friends so I go looking again. I find Avery in her room crying. Darn. I asked her what was wrong and she told me that she was sorry that she had done a stupid thing. First off, I called her out on using the word stupid so she owes someone $5 bucks and then we talked about the dangers of broken glass and the importance of calling for an adult next time. She stopped sobbing and forgave me again...looks like we are going to have to work on the meaning of that word, she seems to have it backwards.
She then told me that she just really does not want to go to LatchKey for the summer because she just hates it. And there is another $5 bucks.

So the girls alone for most of the summer with, for lack of a better word, a stranger! Or in town driving around with this stranger amongst the crazy people on this planet.

This is why some people decide to have plants instead of children. Plastic plants.