Sometimes I get discouraged because we have so many kids, and it is just so difficult for me to spend quality time with all of them. Right now, we have 26 children. We have a staff of Haitian women that work for us to help care for all the kids. The nannies basically keep our house running. Our staff are wonderful, but to them this is a job, not a calling from God. So, they do not necessarily always give the children the affection and love that they really need.
Anytime that I am around the kids, they swarm me for attention. There have been times when I've had 6+ children sitting on my lap or hanging off of me. I love spending time with them, but it is physically exhausting because they crave the attention so much. It is too difficult to explain all the cultural differences between the Haitian nannies and Americans, but I will say that they raise children MUCH differently. Our young children are not very mannered and can be quite a handful. I've been trying to come up with a way that I can spend more time with them and teach them proper behavior without running myself ragged.
Our "big kids" (Mich age 14, Chacha age 6, Rosa age 5, and Claudine age 5) spend most of their time playing around the house freely. However, the younger children are always together in a group with a nanny. I've decided to starting bringing one or two of the younger children upstairs with the "big kids" each day. It will be easier for me to play and work with them in a smaller group setting. By no means is this ideal. I would LOVE for each child to get the one on one attention that they deserve each day, but with the amount of kids that we have, it just cannot be done. So, I am trying to do the best that I can.
I started my plan today by bringing Lovensky upstairs in the afternoon. It was a blast to see him having so much fun. I got to see his personality better, and I loved being able to give him special attention. We played outside and had a small water fight. Then after we dried off, we had a little snack and played with the toy food in my room.
I've also decided to try and get more of an evening routine set up for the kids. I would like to read them a short Bible story, and one or two other picture books each night before bed. I think that will help them to learn English and get them interesting in reading. It can be difficult to get them to sit quietly and listen since they cannot really understand what I'm saying. Sometimes with simple stories, I actually read it in Creole rather than English. I started trying to establish the routine tonight. Since it was Friday night, I made the kids popcorn and we watched a movie. Then, I brought them all onto my bed to read a Bible story. They were really enjoying it until the story was over and I told them they had to go downstairs for bed!
Each day here is a learning experience. My parenting skills are a work in progress. I'm trying to figure out how to balance time to myself with time for the kids. That can be very difficult with so many children who want my undivided attention. I'm learning, changing, and growing right alongside the kids.
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