The Messy Mom and 6 kids!

Yesterday I talked about some friends of mine with 4 kids and one on the way. Well, because they are such loving people with big hearts (and a big house) they have also temporarily taken on legal guardianship of their niece because her mom was in an accident. A couple weeks ago my friends were going out of town and I stepped up to the plate to watch all 4 of their kids, plus the niece, AND my own son, that's a grand total of 6 kids for 24 hours! For some of you moms this is your everyday life, and I applaud you. For me this was a huge undertaking.

The first thing I did was go to the house to get the mini van so that I could pick the kids up from school, except when I got there, there was no mini van! They had taken it with them when they left. I assumed they were leaving it. They assumed that my SUV was full size and could hold 6 kids. Now, I might have been hanging out with a one year too long, but all I could think was that this was a big UH OH!

I had to think fast because it was time to pick up the kids. So I dropped Z off with  J and headed for the schools. I knew it was bad to have 4 kids in the back with only 3 seat belts, but we weren't far from home and I didn't have a choice. Unfortunately shortly after I left the school, there was an even bigger Uh Oh. I was being pulled over. All the kids are shouting asking me why there is a cop behind us and I figured that is was probably because some of them were not wearing seat belts.

Well, I was wrong, I was being pulled over for speeding in a school zone. I thought we were out of the school zone and I wasn't driving that fast, that is why I could have sworn we were being pulled over for something else. The officer asked me to roll down the back window, I reluctantly complied. He asked the kids if they were all buckled up and what he got in response was a each of them talking over one another, arguing back and forth, shouting, and giving random tid bits of information.

"HE IS SITTING ON MY SEAT BELT" "DID YOU KNOW SHE IS OUR COUSIN?" "SHE LIVES WITH US BUT SHE IS OUR COUSIN"

The officer said that is fine, I just need to make sure you are all buckled up.

"MINE'S BROKEN" "OUR MOMMY AND DADDY ARE GONE" "STOP IT! I AM TRYING TO PUT ON MY SEATBELT" "THAT'S MINE" "NO, IT'S NOT"

The 6 year old started to dispute the officer's instructions to which I shouted back- 

"YOU DO NOT ARGUE WITH THE POLICE!"

It was absolute pandemonium. I was trying to remain calm, but I was freaking out as I was frantically searching for my driver's license. I couldn't find it, so he just took my name and insurance. He was gone for quite some time and the kids were asking if they were going to go to jail and continued to bicker amongst each other. I was thinking up how I would explain to my friend that I lost custody of her children and I asked the kids to be quiet so that I could focus. "What is focus?" the youngest asked. "IT MEANS STOP TALKING!" I blurted out.

 As the officer came back he explained that the insurance I had given him was expired and I had a tail light out. I was seriously ready to get out of the car and put my hands behind my back so that he could hand cuff me right then and there, but by the grace of God he didn't even give me a warning, he just said thank you and gave me my insurance back. I don't think he was prepared for the mayhem that he encountered by pulling us over.

 
I was getting the impression that what he was really saying was "Lady, you and your kids are giving me a head ache. I have had drug busts go smoother than this. Please just get out of here." So he let me go even though I was speeding, had a tail light out, had no license, no proof of insurance, and children that were not in safety restraints. Although, for the record I did have my license and a valid insurance card on me and I was able to locate them as soon as we got home, I was just too frazzled to find them when it mattered. So that was the first 15 minutes of the 24 hours that I was responsible for 6 kids.