Being a teacher means that Mark Green, 38, is surrounded by children constantly. He is a stickler for discipline and manners, and the adage: always do your best and what you know is right.
But being a father of three to Nathan, 13, and twins Alisha and Jaden, 5, means that Mark, 38, has even greater responsibilities at home.
“I am as hands on as it gets. I share the cooking, cleaning and laundry,” he boasted. And the well-manicured lawn? That’s all Mark too.
Mark and Risa have been married for five years now and Risa admitted that her first reaction was of shock when she saw the ultrasound results that showed she was having twins.
“Interestingly, twins are not really a factor in either of our families so there was no reason to even consider this as a possible outcome of the pregnancy,” explained Mark.
After the feeling of being overwhelmed passed, it was back to the drawing board and getting things refocused. Risa had to have a Caesarean section and so was off her feet for a while at home. But Mark was there to the rescue.
“I took on the role of waking with the babies throughout the night. Luckily it was not too long before they were sleeping longer periods because I was exhausted because they never woke together, it was always one asleep and one awake,” he said laughing, while Alisha hid her shy face behind his back, and Jaden did the same to mum.
Not going the normal route of most parents, Mark and Risa decided on two different names for the twins after a lot of searching because not only were the twins not identical, each had their own uniqueness, as Jaden remarked he loved Ben 10 cartoon and rice, while Alisha preferred meat.
One unexpected challenge he faced early on was being fully responsible for Nathan when he was two years old after he and his ex-wife had split.
Mark said it was especially difficult because he was studying at the time. “I never thought I would be in that position . . . . However, my family helped me out tremendously and I am so thankful to them.”
Being a teacher and a parent, Mark is doubly involved in his children’s lives. Nathan attended Milton Lynch Primary School and Mark is also a teacher at that school so it allowed him to monitor Nathan’s progress – academic and otherwise. It is now Jaden’s turn at the same school, while Alisha is a stone’s throw away at Christ Church Girls.
Now Nathan is at St Michael School but nothing has changed, Mark states. He still checks in regularly at Nathan’s school and he is now studying for his promotions exams with a love for history, he says.
The family has made a lot of changes this past school term. Before, Mark used to go past his job to make drop-offs at different schools and also get Risa to work in Bridgetown. However, Risa has taken the load off him. She and Nathan take the bus from St Philip at 6:30 a.m. every day, while Mark gets the twins ready and out the door by 8 a.m. for school.
“Alisha is not over the fact that they are at separate schools. This is the first time they have been apart. She still cries sometimes for him,” Mark said.
He admits he has become more responsible since being a father, as he realized his “actions affect more than just me. I have gained a greater understanding of the need to plan and I recognize now it is easier to just live life and deal with situations as they occur. Things will not always happen how or when we want them too”.
“There is always a concern that they will get caught up in the many distractions that society offers today, so we keep on preaching and hoping that they will listen and remember what we have tried to teach them.
“Having children is the most rewarding thing. Seeing their faces everyday and knowing that they are the best part of who I am.”
Mark gets sentimental when he relates that every night when he comes home from his studies and they are in bed, he is gently reminded by his wife that the kids told her to make sure daddy kissed them when he got home.
He fondly remembers his childhood days with his four siblings – seeing a video cassette player for the first time and his father’s stories about cutting cane in America.
Mark is appreciative of his children looking to him for guidance and protection, and he looks forward to seeing them grow up to be good men and women.
He believes in setting limits, and having to discipline them sometimes is part of the responsibility of being a parent.
Mark says he was taught by his parents to “love the Lord, love your neighbour and love yourself”, and those values he will pass on to his children.
