Five on Friday: Things I Learned When My Pretend Friend Came to Visit for a Week

1. She's really real! Not pretend at all!

Just kidding, I had a pretty good idea after being friends online for a decade that she was a real, live person. A few hours before she arrived, I had a mini freak-out moment. "Did I really say they could stay all week? What if they're annoying? What if their five kids are terrible?"

I couldn’t have been more wrong (thank goodness!) The kids zippered right in together, much like the way traffic does getting into the Holland Tunnel (of which our Midwestern friends were exposed to both on the way into and the way out of the city on our day trip). They very comfortably meshed together, happily doubling the size of our families for one week.

Here are some things I learned during their stay:

1. Somehow, in some inexplicable way, feeding fourteen people did not seem like much of a difference from feeding seven (is that sort of like when people swear going from 2 to 3 kids is a nearly unnoticeable difference?)

 

2. Apparently some people actually refer to “sneakers”  as “tennis shoes.”

3. Having out-of-state guests makes one really appreciate and enjoy the many things to do in one’s own area. For the past two summers I’ve been so busy with the kids we barely made it to the Jersey Shore even though they love going. This year because of our visiting friends we made it there in the first week off from school! It was also fun introducing regional foods with them that they don't have in Indiana, like pork roll and disco fries, or that are just better in New Jersey, like bagels and pizza (if I do say so myself).

4. Other people exist that raise their large broods the way that we do—perhaps more lax than other people with things like nudity and filth while strict with other things like good manners and eating. I’m so impressed that in four nights and five long, activity-packed days, the only breakdowns were from my youngest, who is, after all, the youngest and was a little sick at the start of the week and definitely overtired by the end.

 

     5. Inviting a passionate, talented, professional photographer to stay with you is a great idea. I highly recommend it--but if you can't do that, you should check out my friend's work on her page: Raincliffs Photography

      Thanks Em and Chris for a wonderful visit. I'm so thankful the Internet brought us together!