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We decided in November, nearly 9 months ago, that we were going to attend an informational meeting on foster care. Much like being pregnant, this has been getting more and more real as we get closer to having a child placed in our home. Our social worker has had all of our paperwork and this visit today was kind of the final stamp on what needed to happen to get our license. I woke up anxious, ready to get this thing moving. Josh and I spent the morning getting ready, making our house look super clean and orderly like it always does (eye roll).
This is how interested our kids were.
Exhibit A: Big sister created a summer escape for all of the plastic toys. The sink, where the ninja turtle on a skateboard is drowning, err I mean swimming, is of course the big pool. The Angry Birds Halloween bucket from McDonalds is the hot tub. No fear, that is two Minnies in there chatting and not a Mickey & Minnie doing something inappropriate. Definitely don't miss the third born making faces at himself in the mirror while I work hard scrubbing the toilet.
In the blue bucket you will see Superman hanging out in the baby pool.
Here you will notice my middle child being super helpful in picking up toys. They were obviously very concerned about how things appeared to the case worker. Fortunately she never walked upstairs.
Before she came, I sat the kids down to have the "come to Jesus" meeting where I remind them how they are expected to act. We talked again about what she was coming for, and what kind of questions she might ask. Cooper reminded me that he will share his toys and tell "the kid" not to say stupid or butt. Emory wanted to know if "the kid" will speak "Eng-a-lish" to which Adri replied "they will definitely have to speak English because I do not even think mommy could handle that." It's great to have that vote of confidence from my daughter.
Our visit started with a bang when she went to sit in our living room chair and sunk all the way back to a position where she was unable to get up or readjust without assistance. Oops, we forgot to mention that there is a board missing and you kind of need to use the throw pillows for support.
Overall it was a great visit. Long, but good. She is chatty and I am chatty, but she got to know us well - all kinds of details about childhood, extended family, how we met and ended up as a couple, the reasons we are doing this, etc. The kids played peacefully and quietly in the bonus room other than one incident where I heard Emory describing loudly to Cooper what he has just placed in the toilet (I'll spare you the details, but I quickly intervened and dealt with that).
Then it was their turn, the part I had been most nervous about! Maybe it's just us, but my kids - specifically my younger two - have a knack for pegging those situations where there can't be immediate discipline, so they like to test the waters and see exactly what they can get away with. Emory was super silly, basically acted a fool (literally hung upside down at one point), and the boys broke out in a chant of "bring us a boy! boy! boy! boy! boy!" when she asked how they felt about another child living here. Adri, in all of her 7 year-old drama, asked her to "puh-leeeease bring us a girl so we can even this out."
Our kids made her giggle and she left thinking that we have lost our minds, which is definitely the most common response we seem to get, but all in all it went well. This will be sent to the state on Monday or Tuesday and we are looking at receiving calls about placement within a few weeks. Thanks for the prayers as we start this journey!
