Visitors and the crazy show

We have a friend visiting us while she tours Notre Dame and St. Mary's. After the last 18 hours, I think she will be touring schools abroad. The kids were beyond excited to pick her up at the train station and see a real train! Then Christian realized that HE didn't get to ride the train and stomped off in disgust. Sorry, Amtrak. You've grievously offended my child. Things went downhill from there. Christian became a bossy and needy nightmare at the grocery store. ONLY Angelina could push the cart. That was only one of his strange demands. Arriving home was noisy and chaotic. Which is the polite way to say that all kinds of hell broke loose. Sara had to do her homework. She finally fessed up that she forgot the vital part of her homework- the dictionary. Sara, giddy at the prospect of no homework, starts a crazy dance. While trying to explain to her that this was NOT a good thing, Christian is running around the house yelling at the top of his overly developed lungs that he was starving and needed a snack. My explanation that dinner was almost ready was greeted with an anguished wail that he "didn't want dinner. He needed SNACKS!". Can't argue with that logic so I just ignored him. Jealous of my parenting acumen, huh? Our visitor took the smart way out. She hid upstairs practicing her cello. I may have to take up an instrument. You get to hide AND it drowns out the noise and chaos. While I put the finishing touches on dinner (popping lids off and scooping their contents on to plates), Sara showered. When a 7 year old showers unsupervised, everything in the bathroom gets wet except the child. It's a mystery. To show our friend how glad we were to have her, I left her with the kids for an hour. I know, I'm the hostess with the mostest. So, let's recap. Here are hostess skills. Come visit me. Tag along to the grocery store. Get put to work at the grocery store. Help unload groceries from car. Witness temper tantrums, fights and general chaos. Share a bathroom with Shamu the Seven Year Old. Eat a store bought chicken. Babysit my kids for an hour. Welcome to my home. Please come again.