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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.



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