Parenting - Not so hard after all

Ok, so I've lined myself up for a tirade of abuse on this one. On the weekend Mrs-stilt-to-be and I did a house-swap with friends, and got to stay in their amazing house overlooking the ocean on the northern beaches, while they had a night out in the city. Ohh, and as part of the deal, we got their two kids, aged 4 and 2 for the 24 hours.

It didn't look so promising at the start, with 2 yr old master H only uttering one word for the first hour - "mummy". So our conversations went something like this -

H, do you want a drink?
"mummy"
H, do you want to read you book with me?
"mummy"
H, do you want a snack?
"mummy"
H, why don't you tell me what you really want?
"mummy". Accommpanied by crying.

Eventually he realised that mummy wasn't going to magically reappear, and when his older sister arrived home from playing at t friends' house, decided that, yes, he would like some attention now. After a bit of reading and playing, I decided it was time to tire the kids out a bit, so suggested walking the dogs. It was only meant to be a short walk before bath time, but my unfamiliarity with the area, despite growing up up that way, soon saw us on what was turning into a never-ending coastal / cliff walk. After almost an hour of this, H had had quite enough, and demanded to be carried. Fair enough - I would have to if I think I could have gotten away with it.

After a bath with minimal splashing incidents, the normally fussy kids hooked into their dinners, eating almost all of it, and then after a bit of a video, went to bed with only a minimal amount of complaininig. H only got out of bed once - apparently a miracle as his mum often has to lock the door after the third or fourth escape attempt each night.

We'd noticed a similar phenomoenon when MSTBs' 3 yr old nephew came to stay - a long walk with the dog around Balmain for an hour or so, and dinner/bath/bedtime seems to go a lot smoother. So there you have it - my totally uneducated and un-scientific theory for child control - death marches.

Overall, the kids were angels. Except when their parents returned home the next day. Cue fighting, screaming, crying, fits, you name it. Which I had no idea of how to deal with, apart from withdrawing gracefully. MSTB changed the nappies - something I'm still not down with. She asks me how I can pick up dog turds every day, and still find nappies gross. Well, for a staret, the dog is outside, not in my bedroom, and I don't have to wipe it's arse. Maybe I'm not quite ready for parenthood just yet....