Weird things happen when children are left unsupervised

Because it's Christmas, my sister Anne came to visit from Delaware with her husband and two children. On the night they arrived, my two brothers came over to visit with their families (including two more children). At some point, all four children--ages 7, 3, 2, and 18 months--went into a bedroom to play. The adults were all in a different room sitting around talking. After about an hour, we realized that we hadn't heard any noises from the children--no crying, screaming, fighting, nothing. Totally unusual for children of any age.

When we went in the bedroom, we found all four kids sitting in the portable crib--along with every toy in the house--playing contentedly. (You can't really see it in this picture, but the little girl in the back left is actually sitting on a chair in the crib and the two smallest children are sitting on piles of toys.)

This was weird because, first of all, we weren't sure how they got themselves and all the toys in the crib to begin with. It was also weird because they were all so happy to be in a confined space together, when normally they fight--especially the siblings--in much larger spaces, like whole houses.

And who knew a portable crib could hold that much weight?

The portable crib has continued to be a popular play spot. The 2-year-old can monkey in and out of the crib without assistance, and the 3-year-old just uses a step stool. At our extended family Christmas party, my parents had to pull my 9-year-old cousin out of the crib because they decided he really was too big.