How do you raise eight kids? Well, a routine helps!

In many ways, being an SOS mother felt no different than being a mother in Canada. There is something universal about raising and caring for children. But in other ways, my experience in Namibia was quite different from my day-to-day life in Toronto.

Let’s start with the fact that I was helping to raise eight children instead of three. It was not easy to give your attention to that many children all at once! So how do the amazing SOS mothers deal with all of the chaos? How do they make each child feel both loved and secure? During my time in Namibia, I learned that SOS mothers rely quite heavily on a daily routine. The children had incredible self-discipline and weren’t afraid of helping around the house and caring for their younger siblings.

I could describe my evenings in Canada as blissfully chaotic. But in Namibia, despite the larger number of children under one roof, there is no screaming or shoving. At my own home with my eldest – who is six-years-old — we talk about making our bed, but we don’t always do it. In Namibia, the children don’t think twice about making their beds. It’s second nature to them. Routine is essential because if it is habit you don’t see it as a chore, it is just something that you do.

The SOS children wake up at 5:15 a.m., shower, sweep their rooms, eat breakfast, iron their uniforms, pack their lunch snacks and do laundry – all before they head out the door for school! Each child is independent and very self-sufficient, which was a huge help when being a mother to all eight of them.