My final week serving at TLC I was on night shift again. It really was a fun week working alongside Anna (Denmark). We worked well together doing the cleaning tasks and getting the laundry done, while simultaneously tending the babies who were awake. We also made a good team planning fun jokes on April fools day!
Each night we would come to the nursery at 7 pm and help finish getting any babies still awake to bed, start the mound of laundry that was usually there waiting for us, and get started on the chores. By 10 or 11 pm we usually had the majority of the cleaning done and would sort the laundry and fold it while we watched a movie :). We would then change nappies and take the preschoolers to the bathroom (to help prevent wet beds), feed the little babies, and make ourselves some hot cocoa and a snack and get back to the laundry. Then we'd organize the clothes and set out outfits and jammies for the next day. By 4 am we would start preparing the morning bottles and prep breakfast and all the kitchen tasks, finish any other chores, and feed any more of the little babies. By 5 some of the babies would begin waking up for the day and usually by 6 (when day shift arrived) we'd have 5-12 babies and toddlers hanging out in the kitchen with us. A couple mornings we turned on a pixar movie for the toddlers to watch, they loved that.... And of course asked for it every morning after that.
We would then walk back, while watching the sunrise, to our cottage to sleep. Several of the days we decided to wake up earlier and go out... One day we went to the local mall and brought two toddlers with us to have lunch and run errands - they loved it! Another day we went hiking at the nearby nature reserve with two toddlers on our backs and after hiking played in the river - I'm not sure who loved it more, them or us!! On that Sunday we went to a local African market to look around and I bought a couple small gifts and we went to a flea market too which was really cool. On the night before April 1st we planned some really fun April fools day jokes... We put nappies (diapers) in the fridge, lotion in the snack cupboard, we hung TP in the kitchen, Christmas ornaments too....best of all we set boy clothes out for the girls and girl clothes for the boys. It was a hoot to see the response from day shift- they said they were smiling all day long as they discovered our jokes throughout the day. ;) Oh we also had a lot of good food that week... I made pancakes and eggs one night, we had chocolate fondue with fruit (thanks to Rebekah and Maddie) another evening, and the second to last night we ordered pizza and had a good ole pizza party!
Finishing the last shift on the morning of April 4 was bittersweet. I said some goodbyes that morning, then went back to finish packing, and take a nap for a couple hours. That afternoon I was all packed and spent some more time in the nursery saying goodbyes to the babies, other volunteers and staff. I took my special little baby for a walk, he fell asleep in my arms. (I told the girls if he went missing that evening they'd know where he went.) I don't like goodbyes...id rather say see you later. But I gave lots of hugs and kisses and did my best to say goodbye well. My heart hurt leaving that day, I know I had loved deeply. My time had been so full and rewarding, and now was drawing to an end. Anne drove me to the airport and I boarded my plane... Good bye South Africa, I hope to see you later!
I'm praying all the babies can be soon with their forever families (or back with their bio families in some cases), oh to be loved by a family, there is nothing quite like it. But for now they have the "TLC family". Thankful for my time with the TLC family again, loving and being loved.
