2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Invisible Kids: The Power of Memories Fifty Years Later
Invisible Kids: The Power of Memories Fifty Years Later: I stepped into a print shop yesterday and back in time. The smell of fresh ink was intoxicating, at least for me. I love paper and words and...
...Continued from last post
It was apparent that she felt as at home with us as we did with her. I believe I held her in my arms for nearly a straight week. I only put her down when I went to bed at night. In the first few days I would sit her on the floor to play and she would flop over. She was eight months old so this behavior was concerning. We took her to the doctor to be sure she was OK. They told us that it was part of her recovery and she would get better. That was an understatement! She not only began to recover but she did it in warp speed. It seemed like every day she was learning new tricks. It was wonderful to watch how much determination she had to "catch up." By the time we took her to her 12 month neurological assessment she had not only "caught up" but was exceeding her age in many areas. It made me feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to have this child in my home. We had a great big 1st birthday party for her. My aunts, uncles, cousins, mom, sister.....all came to celebrate her precious life. We all fell in love with this child. She became a member of our family just as each of us had only she came to us in a different way.
Every part about being her parent is delightful to me even though I had to turn back the clock 10 years to diapers, bottles, and waking in the night. The only difficulty in being a foster parent is the foster part not the parent part. I won't paint a rosy picture and tell you it is all a bowl of cherries. It is tough sometimes. Foster parents are the low man on the totem pole. No one listens to your opinion about the welfare of the child. You have to drop everything whenever the county says you have to take her for a visit or to the doctor. You have to take criticism from case workers, bio family, and whoever else wants to hand it out about your parenting. You may be accused of things you didn't do. You hand over control of your life in many ways to the county.
So why would anyone want to be a foster parent?
I can only say that I would do any part of it again for her. We have given and received so much love from her. Who could pass that up? She brought such joy and perspective into our home. There have been so many life lessons for my husband and I and so many teachable moments for our kids. She is a gift from God! We only hope that we have been able to offer her as much as she has given us.
Every part about being her parent is delightful to me even though I had to turn back the clock 10 years to diapers, bottles, and waking in the night. The only difficulty in being a foster parent is the foster part not the parent part. I won't paint a rosy picture and tell you it is all a bowl of cherries. It is tough sometimes. Foster parents are the low man on the totem pole. No one listens to your opinion about the welfare of the child. You have to drop everything whenever the county says you have to take her for a visit or to the doctor. You have to take criticism from case workers, bio family, and whoever else wants to hand it out about your parenting. You may be accused of things you didn't do. You hand over control of your life in many ways to the county.
So why would anyone want to be a foster parent?
I can only say that I would do any part of it again for her. We have given and received so much love from her. Who could pass that up? She brought such joy and perspective into our home. There have been so many life lessons for my husband and I and so many teachable moments for our kids. She is a gift from God! We only hope that we have been able to offer her as much as she has given us.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
I am ready to begin telling our foster care story! It has been over a year since I even looked at this blog because I thought of it as a chapter of our life that came to an end. Now I can see that it was just one small part of a very long journey.
We received our first placement on August 22, 2012. I can picture that day so clearly. The call came and I wasn't sure that my husband would agree to take a child that was only 8months old. We had agreed that 12 months would be the lowest we would go. Well, the best laid plans...! He agreed and I called the agency back to let them know. I was unusually calm and peaceful about the decision and just knew it was right. They told me that they would be bringing her that very night. YIKES! The only thing we had for her was a bed. No clothes, diapers, formula, or food. We didn't even have a car seat because we didn't know what age she would be. Needless to say my mother nesting went into hyper drive and I started cleaning and preparing any way that I could before I had to go and teach class. That was the longest hour of my life. I couldn't wait to get home to hear if they had called back to say what time they would be coming. We crammed down some dinner, cleaned up the kitchen, and then waited by the front window for her to arrive. We saw a strange car come down the street. It was them! I couldn't wait for them to knock on the door so I went out to meet them. The case worker was leaning into the backseat to unbuckle her from her seat. She pulled out the most beautiful little baby girl with eyes that could see into your soul. She and I locked eyes and the tears rolled. I had this overwhelming feeling of love flow over me and it has never left. She and I were meant to be together.
to be continued..........
DMM
P.S. It is good to be back!
We received our first placement on August 22, 2012. I can picture that day so clearly. The call came and I wasn't sure that my husband would agree to take a child that was only 8months old. We had agreed that 12 months would be the lowest we would go. Well, the best laid plans...! He agreed and I called the agency back to let them know. I was unusually calm and peaceful about the decision and just knew it was right. They told me that they would be bringing her that very night. YIKES! The only thing we had for her was a bed. No clothes, diapers, formula, or food. We didn't even have a car seat because we didn't know what age she would be. Needless to say my mother nesting went into hyper drive and I started cleaning and preparing any way that I could before I had to go and teach class. That was the longest hour of my life. I couldn't wait to get home to hear if they had called back to say what time they would be coming. We crammed down some dinner, cleaned up the kitchen, and then waited by the front window for her to arrive. We saw a strange car come down the street. It was them! I couldn't wait for them to knock on the door so I went out to meet them. The case worker was leaning into the backseat to unbuckle her from her seat. She pulled out the most beautiful little baby girl with eyes that could see into your soul. She and I locked eyes and the tears rolled. I had this overwhelming feeling of love flow over me and it has never left. She and I were meant to be together.
to be continued..........
DMM
P.S. It is good to be back!
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