On Being a Single Mother

No, this is in no way, shape, or form an announcement!

With that disclaimer out of the way, I can explain that two of my friends went on a river trip at the end of this week, and I volunteered to babysit their 5 kids (ages 11, 9, 7, 4, and 2) while they were gone. You probably think I'm slightly crazy (my friends did), but these kids are just like family, and so I was excited at the prospect. Well, to say the least, it was an adventure!

Let me begin by mentioning that my friend, who is the mother of these kids, reminded me a few times before they left that there was no cell phone reception and quite literally no way to contact them, even in an extreme circumstance, like one of the kids dying. Ahh! NO! There will be absolutely NO death while you are on this trip - here, there, or anywhere! All jokes aside, it is a weighty matter to be solely responsible for five children, even weightier still when the parents of those children will be gone for 4 days, with literally no contact, and the next of kin are an hour away. A daunting task to say the least.

To top it off, the night before I was supposed to go over to babysit was an adventure all its own. I got stung by a bee and had to take benadryl to prevent an allergic reaction, making me quite drowsy. When I got home around midnight, I chose to eat a bagel with cream cheese (smart, considering I'm lactose intolerant) and watch one episode of my favorite show, Ed, before retiring for the night. When I woke up on my couch, it was 3 am, so I went to grab my cell phone/alarm clock, and made my first realization of the night - I had left my phone in my friend's truck, yes, the very friends who were leaving the next morning and were going to call me so I could head over to begin my babysitting adventure. Excellent. I turned on my computer to attempt the ever-reliable facebook method of communication, and made my second realization of the evening - I am suddenly feeling very sick, as in, I just might pass out. Great. No phone, suspected food poisoning, and I'm going to pass out. Well, considering that the walls in my house are quite sturdy, I made it to my bathroom relying on their strength and whatever contaminants had messed me up promptly exited my body. Nice. Again relying, however less so, on my sturdy walls for strength, I moseyed back out to grab my computer and crawled into bed to begin the process of digital communication. Thanks to a friend and a Verizon wireless internet card, the endeavor was successful.

I woke up the next morning to my friends calling my name and my phone landing on my lap. They "randomly" checked their truck before leaving in their car and spotted my phone, and brought it over to me. Yes folks, that is as much a coincidence as my friend getting online at 3:40 that morning to help me test my internet-texting and my roommate leaving the door unlocked when she left for work at 6 that morning. Two hours later the real adventures began.

Day One consisted of watching the kids play, and begin rehearsals for the "movie" they want to perform for the neighborhood in the next couple of days. I got to figure out how to use the microwave rice cooker (which is a really cool little contraption, I just didn't know how to use it, at first, but I learned!), and unexpectedly pick up my roommate from work in Provo because she was sick. And of course, right after bedtime, a thunderstorm popped up, so, we postponed bedtime in favor of watching the lightning through the front window.

Day Two was awesome. The rehearsals for the movie continued until the acting company broke up, but not before they decided to walk the neighborhood in their costumes inviting their friends to come to their show. My directionally-challenged-ness was compounded that evening on the way to Pack Meeting by the rain. Yes friends, it was an outdoor pack meeting. But never fear, prayer works - they prayed the rain would be withheld until we were done, and it was, and when it started raining again after the closing prayer, that was our cue to leave, and of course find a geocache on our way home. At Pack Meeting, the eleven-year-old received his Webelo and Arrow of Light Awards. The Webelo award wasn't a problem, but, no one warned me I had to have artistic ability as acting mother for the Arrow of Light Ceremony! In the back of my mind, I'm cursing my friend, thinking, "C'mon Mr. Scout Master! You couldn't have clued me in so that I could at least paint the arrow correctly?!?!" We giggled our way through it, and he and his brother got all of their awards, with plenty of fun pictures to boot!

Day Three consisted of the kids playing with some of their friends, which made life easy. We then decided to have dinner at my house (I learned how to use a wok!), and were going to swim until the thunderstorms started. So, we pulled out the sofa bed, which was a HUGE hit, and watched The Land Before Time and Harry Potter.

Day Four, at the end of the day, was entertaining. We had planned to go to the zoo, but when it was storming again, we decided against it in favor of waiting out the storms and swimming instead. The sun DID come out, but it was still below 70 all day, and they were doing work on my pool, so we couldn't get in. Again we opted for movies instead, with a light sprinkling of games throughout the day. By the end of the day, we decided that a visit to the McDonald's Play Place was in order to get rid of a bit of energy. About that time, Mom and Dad called to say they were on their way home, so, we headed home for bathtime and a movie. I learned not to ask a 7-year-old to draw the bath water without supervision - she chose to empty what remained of the bubblebath (about 1/10 of the pretty-large bottle) in. Needless to say, the three little kids looked like Santa Clause, and I'm not sure who was wetter at the end of it all - me, or the kids.

All in all, it was a fun adventure. I learned that there is divine wisdom in the fact that children generally come one a time - it's hard to learn with five, although the age spread was a definite blessing, considering that the big kids were really good to help out! I learned the proper way to paint the Arrow of Light. I was glad to have a friend call and check on us every day, and be ready to help at the drop of a hat. I also learned to appreciate the silence at the end of the day, knowing that all five of the kids were safe, and resting peacefully. I wish that I had kept a quote board of the funny things the kids said that made me giggle. "I scared the cwap out of Miss Herring!" (following the sudden appearance of the 4-year-old in dinosaur costume), "My did it!" (everytime the 2-year-old escaped his self-made blanket fort), etc. I had a lot of fun, but it will be nice to sleep in my own bed, without companions! :D