Monday, February 11, 2013

Mommy Math Problem

It's Monday!! Time to shake out your brains and get to using them again.  Why not start your day with this "Mommy Math Word Problem?!"

Alternately titled "The Day I Gained a Kid, Lost a Kid, Gained Two Kids and Gave a Kid Back"

This is a true story (to the best of my recollection) of a series of events from yesterday.

Sunday morning I woke up with 3 kids and a husband.  Then Frances had a friend come over, so we had 4 kids.  We went to Mass and sat with Julie and her two kids.  Now there are 6 kids, right?

In the middle of Mass, Robert had to go to the bathroom, so Ken took him.  Frances got my attention to ask if she could go too, and Benjamin ran off without me.  I followed behind Frances, who was behind Benjamin and went out to the bathrooms.  I didn't see Benjamin, so I assumed he had caught up with Ken.  I waited outside the bathrooms for Frances. At this point I was in charge of zero children. 

Then a friend came around the corner with her newborn.  In retrospect what I think she said to me was, "They are almost done in there. Can you hold S so I can go to the bathroom?"  However, what I heard was, "They are almost done downstairs {meaning the Children's Church kids}. Can you hold S while I go to the bathroom."

So I was holding S when Ken walked out of the bathroom with Robert. Ken looked at me and said, "Where'd you get another one!?!" At the same time I said, "Benjamin's not with you??"

Ken went back to the seats with Robert to check for Benjamin and I went over towards the girls' bathroom.  Mary Beth came out to claim S and said to me, "They are so cute together! She takes such good care of him." and I said, "HUH?!"  She looked at me funny for a minute and then something dawned on me. "Benjamin's in the bathroom with Frances!?"  And I laughed and said, "Please don't think I'm a horrible mother, but I actually had no clue where he was!!  I had though he was in the bathroom with Ken, but then Ken came out and didn't have him."  Mary Beth laughed with me as I continued, "All I knew was that he was in his Father's house.  Isn't there something in the bible about that??"

I collected my two children and went back to sit down for the rest of Mass.  Henry came back from Children's Church and I was back to 4 kids.  Ken took Frances and Robert to Sunday School and I had 2, but then Julie needed to take L to the bathroom, so I offered to walk D out to her car for her.  Henry helped hold D's hand and I held on to D and Benjamin.  We walked (very slowly) out to my van at which point Julie caught up with her and re-claimed her kid. 

I took my boys to the grocery store and then went back and picked up Frances and Robert from Sunday School.  We went home, ate lunch, gave Robert back to his dad and I sat on the couch a reveled in how quiet it was with only three kids!!

Oh and now for the math problem:

How many more years before this is a problem??

Robert and Frances at Mass

42 comments :

  1. Sorry, I had to laugh at that picture. I hope you get MANY more years before that becomes a problem. ;)

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    1. I know it's not appropriate to take pictures during church, but we couldn't pass this one up!! And I hope you're right about having many more years! They both swear up and down that they are just friends!!

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  2. Whoa, that is a LOT of kids! I can barely manage my two! That picture...ahh innocence...hold on to it for as long as you can! :)

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    1. Well, I lost a few here and there, but every one ended up in the correct place at the end of the day!!

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  3. Wow I couldn't handle that many kids without going nuts!

    Cute picture :)

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    1. Who's saying I'm not nuts!! :) Thanks for stopping by!

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    1. Heck no! I was flat out on the couch by the end of the day!! :) Thanks for stopping by!

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  5. Hahahaha. OH NO!! I started to lose track right around the first bathroom trips!! It's a good thing we stuck with two because I am certain I would be losing one or more frequently! Love this post so much!!

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    1. Yeah, with two, you and your husband can do a man-to-man style defense. With three, you have to do more of a zone defense. Anything more than that is just herding cats!

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  6. I wonder what my day would look like if I thought of it in terms of a math problem. It gives me shivers! :-) Clever post!

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  7. I am LOL at this post!!! Hilarious! When I had my 2nd child, I panicked about taking 2 out at the same time. I can't imagine more! haha

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  8. I am LOL at this post!!! Hilarious! When I had my 2nd child, I panicked about taking 2 out at the same time. I can't imagine more! haha

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  9. And if you speed it up it could be a juggling contest!

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  10. I completely lost track at one point!! Sometimes I have a hard enough time keeping track of my 3. And the bathroom thing...I had to laugh...definitely my kids have ended up in a place different than I thought they were going on occasion.

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  11. Lol! At least you know that you'll get along with his family should anything become of the hand holding. :0) Visiting from SITS and just about died reading this post! How'd you keep all of that straight?!

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  12. Whew, that was the toughest math problem I've been faced with in a long time! Reminds me of being a camp counselor and constantly having to count the kids to make sure I hadn't lost any! ;-) Happy SITS day!

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  13. Haha! Great post! I'm thinking that math problem is a little too complicated for me to figure out ;) Happy SITS Day!

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  14. OMG. Hysterical. I'm a math teacher and had trouble keeping track of all those kids along the way in the problem. HAha. Happy SITS Day!

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  15. Stopping by from SITS! Children are more than a math problem, I think there's physics involved too!

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  16. lol...I am simultaneously thankful I dont have kids and wanting to go to mass. Happy SITS Day.

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  17. I have two and I lose one ALL the time!! LOL SO funny.. Happy SITS day!!

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  18. I love it!!! And although my kiddo is not yet potty trained, I was totally that kid that ran off during mass....including the one time that I brought my little brother's car seat up to the front of the alter.

    Happy SITS Day!!

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  19. Hilarious. I definitely got lost in that story along the way. Cute picture- hopefully it doesn't become an issue for awhile... I love your little tickerfactory counters on the side keep track of your kids ages. Great blog. Happy SITS Day!

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  20. No way I could keep up with all that! Happy SITS day!

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  21. Well, just getting to church with that many kids is a feat in itself- losing a few once you're in the building is just collateral damage.

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  22. That's hilarious! And a lot to keep up with! Woah! :) Happy SITS Day!

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  23. So cute! Loved the post. Happy SITS day!

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  24. Goodness too much math for me and I deal with #s for a living. But my #s don't move around the page like kids do. With 3 sons, I feel like my eyes have to go in 3 different directions :) Happy SITS day! I saw on your profile that you love to read and share recipes. I write book and recipe reviews on my blog. Hope you'll stop by, every Monday I post what I'm reading, here's the link if you'd like to stop by.

    http://momssmallvictories.com/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-april-1-2013/

    Glad to meet you and enjoy your day!

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  25. As a mother of three girls, I was always the one in the bathroom but your math problem is adorable. They do scoot around quickly and need that third eye to follow them.

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  26. I tried to babysit 6 kids once, never again. Good for you for living through it.

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  27. Haha! Watch out for that Robert! (And I never was able to help my kids with math much beyond the 3rd grade - and this definitely sounds harder than 3rd grade math!) :)

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  29. OMG! I am constantly say, "Where's Noah?!" Our 3 y.o. boy is a pretty sneaky fella, and when it's quiet we know things aren't right! Love your blog - vising from the SITS girls! Thanks for sharing your stories!!!

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  30. Holy Moly! Now THAT is a math problem! Glad I didn't have to do that one in school! Happy SITS Day!

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  31. I cracked up just now. I'm officially off work and ready to pour a glass of wine, so figuring out math problems or any other problems that don't involve cleaning my daughters nose, is out. Brain dead. Happy SITS Day!

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  32. Visiting from SITS. Oh... math is not my friend. ;)

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  33. Woah mama! That's intense. Pretty sure my head would explode. Visiting from the Sits Girls, hello!

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  34. I'm so confused! This is why I'm no good at math. Happy SITS Day (a little late)!

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  35. Great story! I have 4 kiddos, so I am always doing THAT kind of math, LOL! Happy SITS day late.

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