Day 1 - We have a four year old boy who needs a placement

I’ve been asked many times about what it is like to be a foster parent.  I thought I’d share this journey with you so you can have a front seat view.

Yesterday we got a call at 11 to see if we’d like to take a placement.  A four year old boy who was being apprehended that afternoon.  We were happy to say yes, and he was brought to the house at 3.

He settled in and was playing happily with Nathan in about 5 minutes.   That’s maybe the weirdest part of this day.  A little boy was taken out of his home by two police officers and three social workers, said good-bye to his Mom and settled in in a moment.  I was waiting for the storm.

He didn’t eat much dinner, and what he did eat didn’t get to his mouth with a fork. 

We needed to go shopping because he only had a toothbrush, a few toys and a backpack.  He has lots of stuff at his Mom’s house, but she was understandably flustered by the whole situation and didn’t get anything packed for him.  I was worried about going shopping with him, but it needed to be done. 

I asked Felicia and Sarah to come with me just in case things got ugly at the store.  While we were waiting to leave he got quiet, and I asked, “What are you thinking about?”, heartbreaking answer, “I’m thinking that I miss my Mom”.  All I had for the sweet little guy was a kiss and hug, but for the moment it seemed to do the trick. 

He was a rock star at Walmart.  The only very small glitch, refusing to get out of the cart to see if the pants were the right length.  I can live with that.  He was laughing his head off playing peek-a-boo.  Other shoppers commented on his gorgeous laugh.

He didn’t go to the bathroom all day. 

Bedtime was the next big test of the day.  Again he was a rock star.  He quickly settled in and fell asleep….and stayed asleep until 8. 

So far so good.  It is commonly referred to as a “honey-moon” period.  But we’ve had lots of kids that didn’t bother with the honey-moon and jumped right in to WHAT HAVE WE DONE phase!!

So we’re heading into Thanksgiving, one of our busiest weekends of the year with a four year old who’s known us less than 24 hours.   Pray for us :)