When 4 is no longer 3+1

I kind of expected it to be a certain way for a while....it would be 3 boys and 1 girl, or 3 older(ish) kids and 1 young kid, or 3 settled kids and 1 new kid, but last night it was just 4 kids, my 4 kids, and that felt wonderful. I decided yesterday after school that I would take all the kids to Chuck E. Cheese if M would be OK with it....I would still take him on his own another day, I promised him, but there was no way to do that last night and so if he wanted to go, we were all going to go (minus working Yami , i.e. the reason I couldn't take M on his own but also the reason we could go at all) so, after piano lessons and some a nutrious snack of carrots, cheese and strawberries, I buckled up and took the plunge. Fifty dollars (steep, I know), two pizzas, and 120 tokens later, I think I can pronounce the outing a success. First, the boys were happy....they ran around, played ski ball, experienced some virtual reality rides, and came away with tickets. Second, I did not have to make or clean up dinner. Third, Silin was OK....I was really worried about all the stimulation and worried about over-stimulation. I worried about the lights and sounds, the noise, and all the other kids. All of that was fine. What I totally forgot about was Chuck E. himself. I forgot about him until he was standing next to my table and until I had a 2 yr. old monkey wrapped around my body clutching me for dear life. I told Chuck E. loudly to please leave b/c she was scared and he did (of course, it was before E could give him a punishing high-5 which made E a little upset). Silin seemed to recover quickly though the "trauma" did seem to induce her to pass out in her carseat afterwards. So far she's been sleeping all night (I've been dancing with Jetlag since 3 a.m.)......and, in fact, the 3 boys have slept through as well ....sometimes they still may be 3 +1 but not always, and as long as its not always then I know that we're headed in the right direction.....