A day in the life
Who would have thought I would have a hard time finding time to write a blog post after I began parenting? (Did you catch the sarcasm?)
We began house parenting the middle of January. I was prepared for it to be difficult, frustrating, exhausting, and overwhelming. I was not prepared for how it would make me feel like a mother. I was not ready for this tidal wave of love that I feel for my boys.
We currently have 9 boys in our family with plans to transition two more little boys as well. Our 11 children will range in ages from 3 to 14.
Things are about to change for our family.
Tomorrow the two little ones are joining us, our boys are also moving into a different room in the Fundacion, a much better space. It needs some work but we are very fortunate that three mission teams are visiting in March. They will help us create a space that is like one a normal family would live in. It has a kitchen, a room with a lock for Bob and I, and a BIG bathroom.
We hope to cook family meals together. With all the positive research about eating dinner together as a family its something that is necessary!
Our normal day Monday- Friday currently looks like this.
4:50- Wake up and make coffee, change clothes.
5:00- Wake up the boys, decide who will shower in what order, time them in the shower so all 8 boys can shower before breakfast (6:30), check that they are wearing a school uniform, check that their bed is made, check that Gerson did his chores for the Fundacion, check that Elmer and Joshua cleaned off the table.
6:10- Get the boys in the breakfast line. Make sure Antony set the table for everyone.
6:40- Finish breakfast, check that Gerson cleaned off the table and put all the dishes in the sink.
6:50- Check that everyone is still in uniform, check that everyone has their backpack, count them (Gerson, Max, Israel, Nelson, Jairon, Elmer, Antony, Joshua), walk them to school. Chase them all around when you get to school, kiss and hug every one, tell them how much I love them, tell them to have a good day.
7:10- Walk home, clean up the room, make more coffee.
8:00- Cook breakfast for Bob, Antonio (our oldest), and myself.
8:45- Finish eating, clean up
9:00- Tutor Antonio in math, Antonio practices Spanish and Q'anjob'al with me (a language that three of our boys speak/will learn).
9:50- Antonio leaves for school.
10:00-1:00- Time off. Run errands, wash clothes, clean up, maybe take a nap, do more work in the boys room (sew names in clothes, repair clothes, hang towel hooks ect.)
1:00- Pick boys up from school, Antonio helps me talk to their Spanish teachers (for core subjects), talk to the English teachers.
1:30- Lunch time, boys play afterwards.
2:30-4:30- Round them all up for homework, we sit at the table together in our room. Send boys that need tutoring to the homework room. Check on progress and verify work was completed. Boys play when they are finished until dinner time.
6:30- Dinner time, are they all lined up?
7:20- Boys finish eating. Gerson clears the table and washes the serving dishes.
7:30- All the boys are in the room and do their daily chores (sweep, mop, clean the shower/bathroom, mirror, check the beds again, organize the shelves, clean up the shoes.)
8:00- They put on PJ's, get in bed. Read Harry Potter aloud to them while Antonio helps me pronounce words that I don't know. Read until they fall asleep. Pray over each one, kiss them good night, tell them I love them, tell them I'll see them in the morning, tell them how happy I am that they are in our family.
8:30- Cook dinner for Bob, Antonio, and myself. Hang out, chat, watch a movie maybe. Go to bed.
These few weeks have been different than I had anticipated.
For one, I thought that I would be exhausted.
The truth is that when I worked 90 hours as a waitress/cashier I was WAY more tired than I am now. I used to feel SO tired. I sleep 8 hours a night now and if I feel really tired I can take a nap. So far it is tiring, but not compared to the near-death-tired I was when I was fighting to make it here.
I thought I would feel mostly overwhelmed.
I don't. I feel mostly gratitude that I am finally here with my boys. It was so hard to wait those 8 month while we paid off debt and saved to make it here but God knew what he was doing. Durring that time I had no idea who my kids were going to be. It was so hard. I have felt overwhelmed a few short times but mostly I have felt overcome with gratitude. I feel fortunate. I think that I have the best job in the world.
I thought I would feel annoyed.
I have been a bit annoyed a few times but not usually. The boys say "Heather, Heather, Heather....." but I am just glad they stopped calling me teacher. They constantly run up to me to ask/tell me silly things. But I am glad that they want to talk to me, I use it as an opportunity to hug them.
So far so good, lets see how it goes with 11 instead of 9!
