Extra Kids for a Weekend

We made a deal with some friends who also have a special needs child that if we watched their kids for a weekend then they would watch ours. It is a perfect trade because it is fair and we all know what we are getting into, for the most part. So we watched their kids a few weeks ago. We had them from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening. All of the kids mine and theirs were very well behaved and there were no major incidents. But it was a stressful weekend! Part of it was self-induced because I spent a lot of time worrying about what could go wrong. Their son and Ashley are very similar, but also very different. He is eighteen months older than Ashley. They both can be very demanding, do crazy things, and have sleep issues. He can speak, but can't use one arm. He is a little more likely to wander off than Ashley and also more particular about food. At our house, he seemed to need more space than Ashley. Not that I can blame him any house with 5 kids is chaotic. We could reason with him a little easier and he would at least answer when we called his name. He did spill a lot more things than we are used to. My husband likened it to changing a workout routine - one isn't harder than the other you're just exercising different muscles. Their daughter was much more easygoing than any of our children have ever thought about being. All and all it went very smoothly and all the kids had a great time. Jason and I get to have our great time when we get our weekend! Hailey did comment that she missed their little girl because it was like having a sister that can talk.