Playing Mom for a Day

I got the chance to play "mom" for a day while Rhiannon flew out to GA for a funeral. I watched Madison (6), Alexis (5), and Brinley (18 months) from Thursday to Friday. It was a blast!! I learned a ton from just that one day of having three little kids to take care of. I learned that:

1. There is a reason why they come one (or two, in Liz's case) at a time. It takes some time to learn how to care for that little individual and to make adjustments.

2. Rhiannon is AMAZING for being pregnant AND taking care of three kids. That is a full-time (and even overtime) job! She is even more amazing for having a new born baby and STILL
keeping up with the energy of her girls.

3. Kids truly are what can make our joy become full. I had so much fun playing with those three girls and they kept me laughing the whole time with their cute personalities. I was completely tired by the end of the day, but it was one of the best/most fulfilling days I've had in awhile!

4. Little girl hair is SOOOO hard to do. I pulled it together and it started to fall out of my grip. I hair sprayed it and it became impossible to comb through! I will definitely need some practice time before our little girl's hair will be cute. (Maddy even said kindly, "You don't know how to do hair, do you?") We missed the bus because I took too long working on their hair! (which ended up being less than perfect, but the girls were nice about it :)

5. Schedules/Routines are great for kids! Rhiannon left me a schedule for what happens when and we followed it pretty precisely. I anticipated a struggle when trying to get everyone bathed or putting toys away or going to bed, but to my surprise there was no struggle! They were super obedient and helpful girls. Everyone was asleep before 8 pm and I couldn't believe there weren't tears in the process! Brinley even went down for a nap right on schedule the next morning without even a whimper. Such good girls!

6. Kids are SO forgiving of your faults. I felt very flawed and human as I struggled to do all the tasks that Rhiannon does well on a daily basis. I was upset at myself for causing the girls to miss the bus because we were behind schedule, but they were okay. Maddy said,"It's okay. We miss the bus sometimes" and she even gave me directions of how to get to the school. Their love and forgiveness motivated me to keep on trying.

So, I learned a thing or two about being a mom just within that one day. I really enjoyed taking care of the girls. I learned that Madison is such a BIG helper and a little angel. She has such a great attitude and is a little sunshine. Lexie is so playful and loving! We were always pretending to be something or to be doing something with any task we did during the day. Brinley is a sweet heart and is a bit shy around anyone besides her parents. She was happy and fun to play with the whole time and didn't complain at all that mom or dad wasn't around.

All-in-all, I feel like this experience taught me a lot about families. It also got me even more excited for our little girl! I am grateful for the Patrick family and how great they are! I am glad, however, that Rhi is back to take her place as the mom: a position she does the best!