What can happen with 6 kids on 1 walk?

Just imagine it. 6 kids, 4 of which are 4 1/2 yrs old, 1 is 7 years old, 1 is 4 years old annnddd, me.
And, they are all orphans. Well, Caleb isn't anymore so we'll say that 5 of them are. Which, means, that they do not listen and are pretty much everywhere all the time. That can mean a lot of fun, no honestly, and really stressful as well. Our walk yesterday proved to be both.
I signed up to work a shift at Casa Alba orphanage yesterday. Normally I only do programs with the kids - never work a full shift. This is mainly because of Caleb and his schedule...the shift starts way before he's up in the morning and the evening shift ends over an hour after he is usually asleep each night. The problem is that there is a huge shortage of staff right now at Casa Alba. So I told them I could work until about 7pm yesterday. I thought that having a staff person until 7 was better than none, right? The open afternoon shift was with pink room - most of the kids in this room were the ones I originally worked with when I first came over four years ago.
I decided that there was NO WAY we were going to stay inside yesterday. Once the kids were up from their naps and had eaten snack I decided that we were heading to the park. No problem right? A 15 minute walk there, they could play until the sun went down, and then just a 15 minute walk back. I knew I was the only adult but I also knew I wouldn't have to worry about Caleb running off into the streets...that even at the same age as the other kids he would actually help with the "crowd control" : ) I think it probably took about 20 minutes to just get shoes, coats and hats on. All 5 kids are yelling "I need my shoes! Kelsey! Kelsey! Kelsey! Shoes! Hat! Coat! Aaaaghghg! Kelsey! Help! I can't do it! I can't do it! I can't do it! Help! Help! Shoes! There! No! Not mine! Too small! Aaaaghghg!" at the same time in a space about the size of a walk in closet. I think Caleb, watching all of this, thought Mom was pretty crazy to actually venture out of the gates of Casa Alba after just the shoes and coats. I tested the kids by saying that they could run outside ahead of me if they promised to stop at the gates to the street. They repeated what I said and YAY! they actually stopped at the gate. I praised them for having been so strong by listening and thought it would be a breeze to get to the park. I paired up the kids into 2's to hold hands and then we combined all hands together. We made it around the corner onto the main sidewalk and then I realized I had a problem on my hands. The line of 7 of us holding hands took up almost the entire sidewalk and in addition to people not being able to get by us, we were quickly approaching a huge - huge puddle. I started shifting to the right to avoid the puddle as much as possible and poor Cerasela, the smallest of the 6, couldn't keep up with the directional shift and fell flat on her face. (Also to note that Diana, our Down's Syndrome 7 year old, was so excited and happy to be on a walk that when I shifted direction she was still so thrilled by the hanging Christmas lights that she pulled in the completely opposite direction...aiding poor Cera's fall. I almost couldn't keep from laughing - it was really comical.)
I hugged Cera and we all comforted her. Once the tears stopped we continued on our path. We came to a tight section of sidewalk so Caleb opted to climb up on some stairs to make room for us to walk. Gheorghe, holding Caleb's hand, tried to climb up too. I told him "No" because I couldn't have my right arm a foot above my head for him to climb and then keep the other 4 in check with my left arm. Gheorghe jumps down, and in doing so pulls Caleb off his ledge and Caleb did a flip in the air and really hit the ground hard. Okay, time to stop again. I have all the kids sitting now on the apt. bloc's steps as I comfort Caleb. Meanwhile no one can get into the apartment building, which also houses a popular copy store, because I have 6 children sitting in a straight row on the steps! Right, Caleb has calmed down so we head out again. Now it's Cera yelling at Alex. It was hilarious. Alex was walking way faster than the 3 girls (they were on my left). Diana was on the end still going her own way to get the best glimpses of the Christmas lights. Gina was holding her own pretty well but Cera...her little legs just couldn't keep up. Alex is literally in front of all of us - eventhough I'm holding his hand - and my left arm is stretched out as far as possible. I decided at this point that a switch of hands was going to have to happen. I moved Cera to my hand and Diana to the middle. There, now we're getting somewhere.
But, not for long. It's time to cross the street. We get to the street and I stop and ask the kids to look for cars. What happens instead? The 3 girls and Alex, on my left, continue walking out into the middle of the street while Caleb and Gheorghe stand perfectly still on my right. I had to raise my voice, just a bit, at that point to get them back to the sidewalk before a car met them. Whew. That was tough, and a little scary! We make it down the street and Gheorghe trips on his boots and totally wipes out. He was so said, little guy! Thankfully though, the rest of the chain remained intact through that fall : ) We had another 2 street crossings that followed the original one. Ay yai yai - we STOP when we come to the street. : )
Overall, I had a fantastic time with the kids yesterday. Plus, I think that was the most interactive walk I've ever taken in my life! If the tears hadn't been real, and if the falls hadn't hurt so much, it wouldn't made for a pretty good comedy routine!