"Auntie, the rain scare me!"

Time check: 4 a.m Monday morning. It's raining cats and dogs and the lightning is glaring through the curtains. From the next room, I can hear a faint cry! I jump out of my bed and dash to the kids room. Melody is crying!"Auntie, the rain scare me." This woke up Lincoln as well and they both insisted on coming to my bed. There I was feeling the hands and feet of two little kids clinging to me every time the lightning struck. At that moment, I thought of all the little kids who had no source of security. Would their hearts grow to be whole? Would they learn to depend on God who is so far away for security when they grow up? The clings became looser as we progressed into the morning.

We dressed up without hassle albeit in the darkness! By 7:15 am, we were on the road. It was my first time to use the Northern By-pass. The temptation to speed on this road is high but at a speed limit is 70 kph, all the cars seem to follow a single file. Despite the morning down pour and all the ills that come with it, we made it to school before 8 am.

Umeme had warned us that we would not have power in another 12 hours and the inverter battery had run out. I bought a rechargeable torch so that Lincoln could do his homework later that evening. I was also informed by their mum that they would need an after school snack. Ready to drink Quencher (their favorite) and wafers.

Time check 4.45 pm. I closed my office and headed out to pick the kids from school. First stop Springdales. Melody was so happy to see me. She came running with her arms open to give me a hug. I thought of all the love one is assured of from a child at the end of a hectic day. She was genuinely happy to see me. Quick bye byes to the rest of the kids who were seated crossed legged watching TV. School snack in hand and off to Lohana Academy.

We could hardly find parking at the school. There was such a big number of parents happily picking there kids at the end of the day that i got a quick temptation to leave Melody in the car, rush quickly and pick Lincoln. But the warning bells from what i have watched on TV or read about in the papers were resounding so loudly in my ear!! I packed the car, reached for my hand bag, removed Melody from the car seat,locked the car and walked to the school building. It was drizzling but my last concern was my hair. How was i going to carry Melody and an umbrella as well?

By 6 pm, we were on our way home. The kids had had their snack and were fast asleep in the back of the car. We got home a few minutes to 7 pm. "Quick quick, guys, shower, dinner and Lincoln you should do your homework before the darkness sets in." I ordered. Ok, we had a rechargeable torch but better to use natural light than have a 7 year old's eyes strained so early in life.

Thankfully, I’m looking after disciplined kids. They listen to everything I tell them, they feed themselves and know when its bed time.

As Lincoln did his homework, I finally got a chance to put my ass down and at that moment I sympathized with all the women who have kids of school going age but have no maid, never get support from their partners and then are supposed to attend to their marital obligations. I was exhausted and all I needed was to have a warm bath and sleep.

But with bedtime fast approaching, the kids were looking forward to the funny story I had promised. Thank God at 8 pm, Umeme lit up our lives and the kids were so excited:-). So it was prayers and the bed time story. My nephew and niece know how to pray. They thanked God for keeping the house, for the power (wow) and they also prayed for protection through the night and for mummy and daddy. And then Melody thanked God for Auntie Belinda's nice perfume. Oh! My heart melted!

Story was about a frog that wanted to go up the tree but did not know how so It asked the bird for help. When it got there, the farmer came and started chopping the tree. The bird flew away fast ignoring the frog’s plea for help to get him down. But as the farmer was chopping the tree, the frog got so scared and fell down straight on the farmer's face. He got scared and run away. Moral of the story? Lincoln is like “Do not cut trees because a frog will fall on your face!!" I said goodnight to them and went and hit the sack. TIRED!!

My First stint at baby Sitting

Saturday 20th February 2010.

I have heard from most of my friends that taking care of kids is a full time job! So when an opportunity came up to house/baby sit my nephew Lincoln 7 and niece Melody 3, I took it on purely for learning reasons.

So like all tasks,I got a brief from my cousin as we drove to the airport yesterday. My first task last night was sending the kids to bed. Kids don't just go to sleep;they are sedated with bedtime stories, prayers, hugs and kisses. You must come up with an interesting story every night! It must be believable and intriguing to keep them interested.

"Once upon a time, there was a man who had a cow, which had one horn.....ahhh the cow was sad because all her friends had two horns........ ahhhh so she went to the owner and asked him why she had one horn....The owner said because you are special.:-)" Phew!! What a gamble! The story was so short that they demanded for another one. The only ones that came to mind where Bible stories. The story of Moses being rescued from the floating basket carried the precious hearts to dreamland.I prayed for them and tucked them into bed.

Since we had no power this morning, we all wore jeans to church.However, we encountered a little snag when my car failed to start.! I faced one of those very hectic interrogations from where is mummy, where is daddy, why did the car fail to start? Where is your church? Do they give gifts...... Then on the way to church,Melody wanted to do susu. I was like, "do it in the pamper!" for a minute, i felt uncomfortable about the decision but really had no choice. I called the mechanic and discovered that the guy who has been servicing my car has not changed the plugs in a while. Lesson learnt, always check that all parts have been replaced by asking for the old parts to be shown to you.

We are back home from church and we have been told that we will not have power in another 2 days! "So Auntie,how I'm i going to do my homework?
"I need to watch TV..." Melody asked with tears in her eyes. And now Lincoln just asked,who I'm telling all this stuff to.

I'm mentally exhausted but tomorrow is another day. Early rise at 6, be on the road by 7. Drop kids at school and then wait for the next episodes.Im enjoying this by the way.