oh that is something I would not have the guts to do

Definitely not enough money...Good Luck.....

Cheer up. There was a time my sister and her husband went to California for a week and my husband for business and I went there to babysit for her. She had five kids under the age of six and I had three pre schoolers. Not one was in school! I'm still here to tell about it. And so are the kids!

So... better days are ahead.

SIX KIDS OMG HANG ON TO YOUR SANITY!!!!!! (Can we say nite cap? lol) Even if they are the best behaved children in the world, when you're not use to it, it's exhausting!!!!! Shoot even if you ARE use to it, it's exhausting!!!!!

Gawd! If I had to be with 6 adults under one roof for a week and I'd loose my sanity lol (guess I shouldn't spend so much time down in my studio alone, aye? lol)

You're a super good friend to help her out like this :) And $500 is a nice dent towards your new machine. HOWEVER, I'm with you pocoellie! A day care provider gets a minimum of $50 a day for ONE child WHICH doesn't include evening care!

i (volunteered) to watch a dear friends (7) children one time (3 in diapers at once, the oldest about 11) omg!!! only took once! i can not imagine a whole week...i found 8 hours ........ about 9 too many :)
i still love parents very much...still love the kids, very much...but to be left alone with all of them at once??? i do not know how they do it!
i will be thinking of you all weekend...
maybe find some (crafty) stuff for them to get involved with...my granddaughters LOVE to play in my scraps and i keep a pretty good size box of itty-bitty pieces all the time. the youngest favorite thing is to decorate boxes...big boxes, like printer paper boxes with lids...she spreads glue on the box then places little pieces of fabric...the kids call the boxes 'treasure boxes' they love making them and they make them really cool...great use of bitty pieces i hate to throw away...and the kids give them as gifts, use them for their own treasures and can literally spend hours creating them.
have a good weekend!

Perhaps cutting out a pic of the new machine and placing it on the Fridge will be inspiring. Your almost there! I raised five, 4 boys and one girls. Some days the best you can think is, "This day will end" lol

If they are school age, they are old enough to scare the heck out of them. LOL Also, if they go to school, they do have to behave there, so thery understand rules, tell them yours. I love my 2 little grands, 8&5, but they are like wild things when they come here. I lost my "grandmas cool" once, really yelled at them and it scared them so much that now I usually only have to threaten them a few times to calm them down. LOL

As a mother of 6 kids all within a year to year 1/2 of each other in ages I know what your going thru..still going thru actually lol..One thing I do is when they slam doors, I have who ever did slam the door is go and shut the door softly about 20 times..Another thing that works if they are able to write is I have them write me a essay type of paper explaining why we do not scream in the house, or any other misbehavior..I tell mine if they have the time to act up, they have the time to write..Giving them chores to do is also helpful..Keeps them busy :D

Just keep thinking about your new sewing machine!!! This too will pass! :thumbup:

I'm the mom of 6 kids and when they were bored, they had to clean their room. They always managed to find something to do. They would fight and argue but I was the adult and what I said was the way it was. Get out movies or even a board game. Kids, now, don't play board games so it would be something new. I remember when we were bored, my gpa taught us to play poker. We bet with Monopoly money and had a great time. What fond memories...