Skip to main content

Inaugural Post

I think I need to write a blog.

I keep searching for good blogs about foster care and none are exactly what I'm looking for. I need to read the work of deeply thinking people who are wrestling with the realities of opening their homes to strangers. But please be funny, too. And, mostly, I need to hear from people whose agenda does not include evangelizing--neither the Christian faith nor the lesbian lifestyle. I respect you both, but I'd rather just hear about the kids, thanks.

So, here's the background info I'm always curious about when people provide a peek into their homes. Because context is everything.

I'm Beth*. My husband, Theo, and I have been married for 17 years. We have three sons: Seth (16), Gus (12), and James (3). On November 30, 2018, we had two foster girls, Jane (3) and Kate (1) placed in our home. This is our first foster care placement. We are open to both fostering and adoption. (*All names are pseudonyms.)

We live in the middle of the middle, about as Midwest as you can get. I'm a teacher; Theo works for a pharmaceutical company. Together we make a little over six figures but where we live that's not enough to take fancy vacations or to even shop at Whole Foods. (Okay, maybe we don't shop at Whole Foods because I grew up on a farm and I'm telling you, $6 milk is for suckers. Seriously, there is no discernible difference between the lives of the cows producing $1.50 milk vs. those producing $6 milk. Now when it comes to meat and eggs, yep, lifestyle matters so please do find a farmer's market to purchase those, but I simply can't give my money to a store that prices items based on buzzwords, not content.)

Our kids go to public school. We're too lazy, and our kids are thankfully too untalented, to do the crazy sports thing. The older boys each play an instrument in band at school and that's about all the extracurricular in our lives. Oh, I did just sign the 3 yr olds up for a toddler dance class. Can't wait to see how that turns out.

We have goats and chickens. I sometimes have a garden. We have a trampoline and a tree house. We just bought some land and my husband is carving out walking trails through the underbrush. There, that takes care of the out-of-doors, as my grandma used to call it.

I think that concludes the introduction. Now to begin.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Family Visit Success!

Last weekend we did a family visit that was a return to how we'd first begun doing them. Theo and I drove the girls down and stayed and hung out with the family the whole time. The visit was just 1.5 hours long. Aunt made the lovely suggestion that good-byes would happen in the house and not at the car. She even coached grandma to do them quickly. So, we did a quick but sincere good-bye then left. No drama with grandma climbing over seats or Jane wailing from her car seat. And it all worked! Girls were cheerful and chatty on the way home! No nightmares for Jane that night! Kate was even okay--one day of extreme clinginess but then she returned to usual level of attachment-bonding cling! I'm so incredibly relieved! Because what would I have done if this hadn't worked?? I could not bear the thought of telling them we were stopping visits completely not least of all because I truly don't believe that would be the right path, long term. But now I don't have to f...

Halloween Hell

 Tomorrow the kids will do a daytime Trunk or Treat event with Grandma. I suggested the outing about two months ago, chose the event, coordinated a meeting place with her, bought the kids costumes, prepped them for it, and now it's happening. I did it all. And I am dreading it with every fiber in my being. All this week my mood has been sliding downhill the closer it gets.  I hate meet ups with Grandma. There was a time when I hated them less, now I hate them with visceral dread. Why? Because I don't want Grandma to know where the girls are in school.  It was a huge mistake to tell her our home address and last name. A few weeks after we did that I got a phone call from a relative telling me about Grandma sneaking her son back into other grandchildren's lives. The relative warned me to "look in the back seat of her car" in case she was hiding him in there when she came to visit us. Needless to say, she was never invited to our house again.  So, what do I do? Yes, ...

Turning Two in a Tutu

Kate turns two this week! After sixteen years of boys I'm going a little over the top with the pink and fluff but I just can't hold back. And with pictures like these, even minute of planning and prep was worth it! She loves to play dress up and have tea parties with her stuffed animals. She's so adorable! Jane and James are 3 and a half so I decided we needed to celebrate their half birthdays, too. Any excuse for a cupcake!