Sibling Support System

On the first morning I heard a little voice and a knock on my door at 5 a.m. “Good morning Miss! We are going to make breakfast,” the eldest child, whispered in my room. She was my alarm clock that morning. I didn’t know how my first morning would go, but she showed me the ropes!

In Toronto, my three children require more effort to get ready in the morning because they are much younger – I have twins who are almost 3 and a six-year-old.  These eight SOS children were incredible getting ready this morning and I could see how much they help one another. The youngest child, who suffers from a series of medical conditions, needs to take medication every morning. Two of his siblings would hold him and calm him down, while another child gave him his medicine.

I wasn’t expecting to see how self-reliant the children are and I was really impressed with the amount of pride they have in taking care of themselves. One child said to me: “Um, Miss are you going to iron your skirt?” Actually I wasn’t but she gave me an amazing lesson in ironing, which I admit back home I don’t do! The children are used to being so self-sufficient because as a mother of eight, you cannot do everything. Elizabeth has done an outstanding job of raising these eight kids to take care and look out for one another. You would never know that these children all came from different parents as they are such a loving family unit.