Temporary Mom Duty

This past week I had the opportunity to stay overnight four different nights with my neighbor's kids. It was so fun! And they are an amazing family. They really didn't need me there - the oldest daughter was very capable, but it helped mom feel better about leaving town knowing the kids weren't totally by themselves. I'd come after work (they had already eaten and cleaned up by the time I got there), get them off to school in the morning, and then go to work. On Monday night we had a Family Home Evening activity - made rice krispie treats and played Wii games. The boys kicked my hiney (except in bowling) and I provided lots of laughs for them (since I'm basically miserable at most games).

I think the most amazing part for me was their scripture reading each night. I know that when I was growing up, scripture reading was all about getting it done, and quickly! For them, they read three to five verses and then talked about what they had read. So there was no drifting off to think about what you were going to wear tomorrow or other such wandering thoughts. AND they really did know and understand what they were reading.

But for me, this time was all about playing mom for a bit since the youngest (7 yr old) let me read to him at night, hugged me when I got there, and was a chatterbug about his Wii games and other kid stuff. It filled that little void that I have.

So thanks to my sweet neighbor for sharing her family with me. And thanks to the kids for letting me play mom for a few days and putting up with my game playing skills :)