Mom for a week...

One of the jobs I have here is to serve the M's that I work with. It is an honor and a humbling experience to get to work with and for them.

Well, one of the families over here has asked me and a friend of mine, Alex, to house/babysit their 4 kids while they attend a conference in Morocco for a week. I happily agreed to help them out. Their oldest is a girl in the 10th grade, then they have an 8th grade boy, and two younger boys, one in the 5th grade and the youngest is a 3rd grader. They all attend the school I work at, Whitman Academy.

This week has been a lof of fun as well as a lot of hard work. Right after school Alex and I head over to their house. Alex begins cooking dinner (which is promptly at 5 pm!) and I help the two younger kids with their homework. Then after dinner we clean up and entertain the two youngest kids, this involves playing with the wii, watching movies, playing a game...or leaving them be to play on the computer. Then you have to get them to take their showers and get ready for bed. This is the most interesting part of the evening...you learn new and improved ways of being persuasive and cunning :)

The two teenagers spend most of their time in their room on the internet. Every once in a while they'll come out and conversate with us, which I greatly enjoy. It's interesting to hear about a teen's day and thoughts. Wow!

While doing all of this we have to find time to shower, do work at home, make phone calls and send emails as well as have quiet time. Being a stand-in mom is a hard job, but it has been oh so worth it to get to know these cool kids better and be a part of their lives for a week.