A Taste of Motherhood ... from an Educator's Perspective

 [Names withheld to protect the innocent.]

Last Friday evening began my 4-day journey on a new learning experience for me:  taking care of my four nieces while their parents were out of town.  I observed and learned a lot, some of which I still cannot accurately put to words.  For the majority of you, this may not seem to merit a blog post.  For me, a person without children of her own (save pets) and someone who is used to just taking care of herself and attending to the needs of family members from time-to-time, I learned a great deal. 


In short, this is what I learned:  the role of a mother is not unlike the role of a teacher, except you have to also cook and clean A LOT.

Days prior to my journey,  I jokingly told people that I would be taking "vacation" time so that my brother and sister-in-law could take a vacation.  My brother was traveling to San Juan for business, so he thought it would be nice to extend the stay and surprise his wife with a trip to celebrate both her birthday and their anniversary which occur in May.

Here are the four days, as best I can remember them:

• The two youngest girls (K and 1st grade) would be spending the weekend at a neighbors, so Friday and Saturday nights were spent with the two eldest and one friend each.
• The eldest (7th grade) and her friend had a huge project for school to complete in a week.  I won't explain why this project was completely inane... it just was.
• The second eldest wanted to go over to another friend's house on Saturday.  I said yes, but I told her I needed her to give me all the contact info.  Before she left, I had only her friend's cell number.  It's my fault that I didn't have more than that at this point.  I trusted my niece to let me know.
• Saturday was another day at work on the inane project.  My eldest niece's friend spent the night again so they could work on it.
• Sunday, I got to play the "bad guy", three times.  First, telling the eldest niece that we weren't going to Subway for lunch when everyone else wasn't home yet.  Second, telling the eldest niece that she couldn't go to a movies that night because she still had work to finish on her project.  And third, telling the second eldest niece that she couldn't go to Keeneland on Sunday with her friend.... twice (and this is after two hours of trying to get in touch with her via text and cell phone calls).  Phew!!
• Also on Sunday, I furiously studied the notes my sis-in-law left for me.  We had lunches and snacks packed (except one... whoops).
• We also Skyped with Mom and Dad during this time because phone and text were out of the question.  For the most part this was a positive experience, but for one niece, it made her miss her parents more.  Hugs and rocking and reassuring that they would be home soon was the best I could do.
• Monday, the eldest had sports practice at night and looking ahead, she also has tryouts for next year today and tomorrow.  The project is due on Friday.  So, the eldest and her friend worked until 8:30 on Tuesday to complete their work.  They aren't done even at this hour.
• Tuesday was a complete disaster for me.  It started with one of the youngest asking me if her snack was in her backpack as I dropped them off at school.  I responded with, "Ummm, yes, it is."  At the same time, I'm not recalling doing that.  Since I had to return to take the eldest niece to school, I made a couple of snacks for the two youngest, dropped of the eldest, and then went into the elementary with the two snack bags.  I also made the mistake of laying down 20 minutes before I had to leave to pick up the elementary kids.  I fell asleep and thankfully woke up in time.
• I asked the eldest last night at about 9 pm, "Okay, so if you have another big project like this, what would you do differently?"  She gave two distinct answers and it has NOTHING to do with content of the project: 1) I would manage my time better, and 2) I would start earlier on the research needed for the project.
• When Mom and Dad returned last night, the eldest was still awake.  She promptly greeted her parents and at one point she said, "Aunt Kol is a good cook, just as good as you [Mom and Dad]."  If you know me, you know how funny that really is, but I'm glad I was able to pull it off.

My sis-in-law, or the sister I never had, is a remarkable person.  She is a stay-at-home mom.  With four girls (K, 1, 5, 7th grades), two dogs, and a husband, she has her plate full, and yet does it all with grace and intelligence.  My brother is (almost) equally as impressive. <smirk>.  The two of them have developed a mutual responsibility for their kids. 

It takes a village,
Aunt Kol