Apparently it doesn't matter how many adults you add to this equation. We had 4 adults and three children and there was still chaos that ebbed and flowed and that chaos was regarding the drive of the forces of 'me' and 'mine' and the balance of the 'perceived' equality (by the little ones) of the experience as it breathed in and out.
It all can be encapsulated in a miniature version of the world laid bare, as it were: a telling of the truth of the feelings and desires of all human beings. Respect, Love, Wants, Patience, Sharing, Property, Community, and Individuality were met and dealt with Many Times Over through the course of the four and a half days that we were together. We shared, we laughed, we offended, we cried, we loved, and we forgave many, many times. We learned the lesson again and again. There were lots of "I Love You"s as well as lots of "Gimme that back! That's mine!". Lots of Loves and Lots of Gimmes. It was precious and beautiful as the kids ran the gamut of the scope of human emotion.
It was really something to witness all this action and energy as an Arbiter to the whole process. What an amazing thing. It makes me think a lot of the Creator of all Things and the 'view' as well as the Relationship that we all share with that Force of forces.
Parenting brings me back to that again and again,...to Having Compassion For Ourselves as People, as human beings, as 'Adults', as Big Kids still, after all these years, learning the Ever Fresh Lessons that Life proffers. We may think we are 'Big', 'Adult', and the like, but maybe we really aren't all that in the Eyes of Our Arbiter. Maybe we are really Little Ones who Need Compassion just like our children who need consoling after skinning their knee because they were pushed down and it hurt more than their body; it hurt their feelings. Or there is that of love that is not reciprocal or others who do not want to include or share. These are real pains that can ache to the bone, and occasionally skin the soul.
Parenting can bring you back to the Healing of places inside of yourself that you would not be likely to visit had you not been placed in the role of the Consoler and the Giver of Compassion. Yes, you also give penalty, it is part of the learning process of little minds, but the 'Take Away': the residing, sustained, deep tone of it all is Compassion and Love. Compassion and Love. To give it is to receive it. Therein is a little secret to this whole parenting business, and of course, a little thimble full of what may be wisdom, by default, which apparently gets added to many times along the way in small increments. Thank goodness for that!