"Thank you Mothers!"

I know it's not Mother's day but I have to write a "Thank You" to all the dedicated mothers that read here. Thank you for taking care of your little ones! (including the not so little ones too) And if you have any 2 to 3-year-olds you will be considered heroes in this post.

My husband and I had the privilege of hosting a little three year old for three days last week. His mother is a single working mother and she asked if we could have him for the weekend as schools would be closed. We have had him before, but it was the first time I had him all day while Raphael worked. Let me tell you... I thought I was quite experienced as I have taught for three years in Holland working with 2.5 to 5 year olds... but this was totally different. First off, I wake up to the sound of a little voice telling me that "It's day! It's day!" Then I feel little hands and feet crawling up to our bed and stepping all over us with joy. So ok, he's right, it's day... and yes, we should be glad. Raphael gets ready for work, I sit and have breakfast with our guest and run him through our daily program. We are going to town, then we will be baking a cake because it's Valentine's day and it's a surprise for Raphael, then we are going to take the bus to the Media Library, then we will wait for Raphael who will pick us up to go back home. Sounded like a good clear plan to me, but first of all we'd have to wash up... Now this is where my questions of admiration for all you mothers (and some fathers too!) come in. These are either things I was wondering or arguing with him about.

1. How do you get a child to take a bath to start with?
3. How do you get him out?
2. How long should playing in the shower last?
4. Who should be dried off first? The child or the toys?
0.5 Who should take a bath first, you or the child?
5. Do you take a bath in the morning?
6. If you take a bath do you have time to think about what you will wear and comb your hair?
7. What does the child do while you take a bath, and is it safe?

I'm guessing that it was just kind of harder for me because I don't have children and I don't know him very well... my French is not perfect either, but I'm guessing that even if it is your child and you know him quite well you will still have struggles, right?

Our cake turned out quite well. He got to put in the yogurt, the baking powder, the salt, the raspberries... I think he really enjoyed it, and he was good enough to wait until after dinner to try it. Our bus trip was another adventure. After 5 minutes in the bus he fell asleep; we were all the way in the back of the bus. I picked him up to hold him... he looked so cute....BUT, when we were close to our stop I couldn't get him to wake up. I moved him about, called his name, shook his head a little bit and nothing. I was a bit anxious because I didn't know how I would get him and our things down if he was asleep. Then for a moment he opened his eyes and I asked him if he was ok, and he said "yes" and fell asleep again! We did manage to get down safely and soon enough he was wide awake! We read books at the Media Library until Raphael came over to pick us up. He ran up to Raphael and first thing he said was "We made a cake for you!"

The next day we just stayed home and played. He loves going to church and singing, so we played church and he was so cute. We pretended that our worship leader was sick so he had to go up and lead us in worship. He took a "make believe" guitar (don't remember what it was) and started to sing and from time to time he would stop to pray. :)

Then on Saturday we went to the mountains to play with some snow :)



I think the greatest blessing though was to be able to read to him at night from his little Bible for children and look at examples of "good listening"... something we had to work on. We talked about Peter letting down his net when Jesus told him to (Luke 5:4), (he did good listening), about the storm quieting down because it obeyed Jesus (Luke 8:24), and how the little children came to Jesus and listened to Him... they looked like they were listening from the picture. It really blessed me that we were able to share about the Lord, and I think it blessed him too.

So, well again a THANK YOU to all you mothers who are working hard day after day to bring up your children as best as you can and in the Lord. If there are any single mothers or fathers at your church or anywhere else that you know, be sure to keep them in your prayers and see how you can bless them. I was blessed with a great mother whom I thought a lot about as I was taking care of Yann. My mother is such a great example of love and dedication to me. She is a hard worker and I just hope that if one day the Lord blesses us with a child/ren, I would be a good mother too.

And what did I get for Valentine's Day?

Home-made bread by Raphael with our initials in the heart!

Mmmmm, it was very good!