Mom brought her kids to her exam after the babysitter canceled — but it was her professor's reaction that stunned her
Being a parent and juggling different tasks, such as work, chores and studies, can be overwhelmingly challenging. However, kids' babysitter canceling on parents' exam day might sound no less than a nightmare. That's exactly what happened with a single mom of two kids named Monica Willard, who was forced to take her kids to class because her babysitter canceled at the last minute, per WLKY News Louisville. However, things took a surprising turn for the junior student at the University of Louisville (UofL) when her professor stepped in to help unexpectedly.
"I was like, I have no choice. Either don't go or bring them in. I couldn't not go," Willard shared with the outlet. She had a Military History exam taught by Professor Dr. Daniel Krebs that day. The mom eventually decided to take her children with her and have them sit in the hallway as she took the test. But as her professor stepped outside, he noticed two kids were playing on a laptop in the hallway. Willard was worried that her professor would not be happy about the situation and would ask her to leave the place. But what happened next was not something she was expecting at all. Krebs decided to look after her kids for her as she took the exam in peace.
The professor could be seen playing computer games with Willard's 4 and 5-year-old kids in a viral photo, per ABC News. Willard told her daughter, Mikayla, and son, Marcus, to sit quietly on the couch in the hallway before the professor saw them. "The class didn't know they were there until Marcus came banging on the door. Dr. Krebs said, 'Don't worry. Go take your test. I've got them.'" The mom explained that there were no military bases by the University of Louisville, so she could not find a daycare center for her kids that would work well for her schedule.
Willard, the then-28-year-old ROTC student, was thankful for her professor's kind act. Nonetheless, the professor felt what he did was not a big deal. "A person like Monica, she's a non-commissioned officer going to school, she's a mom of two kids. I mean, that's the kind of thing that's really impressive. Me handling her kids for 40, 45 minutes, that's not impressive," Krebs remarked. While talking about his time with the kids, the professor expressed, "The little boy knew the names of the [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles], and he's yelling out these Italian names. I didn't know who he was talking about. And the girl climbed on my shoulders and pulled my hair. But, apparently, I was so distracted that I didn't know people were taking photos of me."
The mom was touched by the sight of her professor taking care of her kids and asked her friend, Victoria Henry, to click a picture of the trio. "A lot of professors just aren't as caring as Dr. Krebs is. Since military history is such a small class at U of L, he really got to know us on a personal level, so we built that relationship with him outside of class," Henry pointed out. The kids loved spending time with the professor and did not want to leave. "They didn't want to leave. They really just had a lot of fun. They want to come back to class with me," Willard said.