Does your schedule ever leave you feeling like you're running around like a chicken with your head cut off? Like your house is just a bed and breakfast where everyone sleeps and dashes back out the door? Same, girl. Same.
Let me paint you a picture.
I’m a single mom of four. Add in one foster child, two bonus kids, and one exchange student from Brazil. That made eight kids in total—ages 19, 18, 17, 17, 16, 12, 10, and 7. Yep, you read that right. We went from just my four in Christmas 2016 to eight in Christmas 2017.
Celebrating Christmas as a family
Oh, and for context—I’m an only child. My cousins didn’t live nearby. I didn’t grow up in a big, bustling household. So all of this was new to me.
At one point, two of those eight were in college, and the rest were juggling school and every extracurricular imaginable—volleyball, cross country, track, band, football, soccer… you name it. Meanwhile, I was working full-time as a substitute teacher and driving a school bus before and after school.
Tired just reading that? Yeah, me too.
Sure, we were busy. And yes, we ate a lot of fast food and probably too many frozen pizzas. But you know what else we did?
Making memories experiencing the solar eclipse
We laughed. We cried. We supported each other like family.
We played board games. We went camping. We made s’mores.
We gave advice, did homework together, got on each other’s nerves—and then hugged it out.
We didn’t go on fancy vacations or eat at five-star restaurants.
But we had a blast. We made real, lasting memories.
Family fun celebrating Nara's birthday at a Brazilian restaurant
Our house was full of different cultures, lifestyles, opinions, beliefs, favorite foods, and music tastes. We were all so different—and because of that, we all changed. We grew. We learned. We loved.
Life has calmed down a bit since then. Most of the kids are grown now, and only two still live at home. I don’t hear from the foster children anymore—though I wish I did. But that’s just how it goes sometimes.
I do still hear from that exchange student from Brazil—and the eight others I’ve hosted since.
Host mom Gretchen with Nara from Brazil
To say we’re all better people because of our time together would be an understatement.
If you think you're too busy to host, I want you to know this: You're selling yourself short. Hosting doesn’t have to add chaos—it can add connection. Choose a student who shares your kids’ interests to make scheduling easier, or pick someone with different passions and learn something totally new.
Whatever you decide, don’t let this beautiful, life-changing (yes, really!) opportunity pass you by.
