A friend of mine had a job interview in Idaho and so I volunteered to take her 7-year-old twins for the week.

They’re good girls, and they’ve been having a great time with my twins; nevertheless, I’m even more exhausted than usual. Particularly with four little girls, the tattling and bickering can get completely out of control. Then there’s the whole twin dynamic, with each girl staunchly defending her twin when some perceived injustice has occurred.

The hardest part of having six kids here, besides the obvious extra amount of clean-up, is feeding them. I’ve long ceased to be a creative cook and it’s hard to come up with a variety for all of them twice a day (breakfast is a given). Inevitably, someone was disappointed at every meal, till I felt rather like I was running a restaurant in my effort to please everyone.

I have a feeling that four kids is going to seem strangely easy and normal after this week.

If you have more than four kids, how on earth do you do it? You have my sincere admiration.