Being a single mom day 1

So for all of you out there who have been wondering what the heck is going on in our lives, here's an update:
Bryan and I moved to Adair Village in December in preparation to host two Korean students at our house. For those of you who are saying, "And Adair Village is...", Adair Village is a small town just 10 minutes north of Corvallis. By small town, I mean there are no stop lights, not even a blinking one, and a volunteer fire department summoned not by pagers or cellphones, but by a city-wide air raid/tornado siren that goes off at ungodly times of the night. The city is a collection of houses built in two different decades. The south part of town is a collection of older duplexes either owned by young families or rented by college students who name their pit bulls Budweiser and Heineken. The northern part of town (where we are blessed to live) is relatively new development, built in 2003, housing families and the occasional retiree. Adair is also home to Santiam Christian High School, so now all of you reading can nod and say, "Oh yeah, I've heard of that school, but never really knew where it was..."
So we moved there in December, then went on vacation, then started hosting the two kids January 1. In case you don't know what hosting means, let me explain....
In Korea, there are a few good colleges, which are very competitive and nearly impossible to get into. In the US, there are a ton of good colleges, which are competitive, but doable, if you know English. Knowing these facts, many parents in Korea send their children over to the US before college so that they can learn English well enough to get accepted into US colleges. This is how Minsu and Lauren came our way.
Lauren is a 16-year-old sophomore girl who attends Santiam Christian. She has been in the US for a year and a half. Minsu is a 12-year-old sixth grade boy who attends Zion Lutheran School in Corvallis. Both kids will be living with us until school gets out in June. Then they will go home to Korea for the summer. Lauren will return to live with us again until she finishes high school, but Minsu is only staying in the US for one year. He has been in the US since September and Lauren has been here for the past year and a half. They both lived with other host families before us.
So you are probably thinking we are crazy by now....but it's true, we love it!
I quit my job at the newspaper so that I can be at home full time, and Bryan is so happy to be closer to work. The kids' parents pay us for room and board, so that will make up for the money lost when I quit my job.

So that was really long, but now I will get to the events of late.
Today I drove Bryan up to Portland, where he caught a plane to San Fransisco, where he will be attending Jan Term classes at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. So for the next four days, I am a single mom. Today wasn't so bad...I got back from Portland in time to pick up Minsu at school. Lauren gets out at the same time, but since her school is so close, she walks home. Let me rephrase....she tries to walk home. Today, on our way home, Minsu and I found her wandering around a neighboring cul-de-sac looking quite confused. We were all laughing pretty hard by the time she made it to the car.

One of the biggest challenges is helping with homework. I feel like these kids get so much homework, it's amazing! Also, we get easily distracted. Today I spent half an hour trying to teach them how to say "work sheet" instead of "work sh*t." I had to explain to Minsu that he probably shouldn't keep saying the latter, no matter how oblivious he may be.

I'm definitely learning a lot about patience and teaching because when the kids give up on their homework, I can't just give up too, especially without Bryan to trade off with. I'm so glad that this single mom thing is just for one short week, and I'm seeing more and more why God intends for two parents to be in the equation. If anything, you need to tag team once in a while!

Comments

Unknown said…
I love it Charissa. Welcome to the world of parenting. Quick learning, homework, and language mistakes are the best! Single parenting - EEKKK!!! I hate it when Dave is not home to help, also. Hang in there!
The Olive Grove said…
Worksheet, Worksh*t...same thing! :) Glad you are enjoying this new adventure!

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