Crash course in parenting - Life as a foster mom

...although there is really not much to update. Our background checks finally came back from Iowa on Monday, and they were clean as we all knew they would be. Also on Monday I packed up all of the rest of the boys things and sent them over to their current foster mom's place. Our FSW is hoping that we will be licensed within the week, but at this point I'm really not holding my breath. Even if we get licensed, we don't know if the boys are going to be going to live with their aunt or not. That whole business is supposed to be hopefully finalized within the next week or so....hopefully! Again, not holding my breath. We told the FSW we'd be willing to wait for a couple of weeks while the boys' placement gets finalized. If they end up not being placed with us, then we will probably be getting new kids, sooner rather than later. There are so many kids... :( Our FSW told me that we are going to be awesome foster parents because we care so much and are so involved...

I got a phone call I was totally not expecting today. The FSW told us that the boys have to move back in with their old foster mom immediately. Apparently that Iowa background check was NOT ever run on us, and the state (in their infinite wisdom) has insisted that the boys can not be in our care until that is completed. And now they are looking at placing the boys with their aunt, but they still have to do background checks, etc. on her before that is done. So more moving around for the boys. Their old foster mom does not want them anymore so they will definitely not stay there. Needless to say I am totally devastated. I know that the house is going to be so empty without them here. Brian and I agreed yesterday that if the mom's parental rights got terminated that we would adopt these kids. And now they are not even going to be with us, and maybe never be with us again. I keep telling myself I would not be so sad if I knew that they were going back to their mom and their mom ...

Today was an eventful day. I got permission from the FSW (family support worker) to contact the boys' previous foster mom to pick up their stuff. The FSW had previously said that she would take care of it, but it was taking way too long! I called the old foster mom today. She already had all their stuff packed up, and was just waiting for someone to pick it up! It took like 5 minutes. Ha! The boys are Sudanese. Apparently in Sudan women don't have much say, and the old foster mom felt that was why the boys were disobedient and that being in a home with a man would be good for them. They are doing so well in our home so far, it's odd to think that their previous placement had problems with them. I talked to the FSW about the boys' case yesterday. She just kind of gave me some family history and told me a little bit about the boys' mom and the way they used to live. It made me really sad, and again I can't believe how well-behaved they are for all they'...

I forgot to mention in my last blog another thing that I have learned - how incredibly difficult it is to find a quality pediatrician (in our area, at least) that accepts Medicaid. C had been coughing, especially at night, and he was pretty miserable. And we are not allowed to give him over the counter medication without "permission" (from whom? I have no idea, but apparently it's difficult to get). So the solution? Take him to the doctor (any other taxpayers somewhat concerned that there are thousands of foster kids on Medicaid and this appears to be the norm??). I called at least three different offices (which I tried to somewhat research ahead of time) and the answer was always "No, we don't accept Medicaid". I know Medicaid pays terribly little. When I lived in a different state and worked in medical billing, Medicaid/Medicare would often pay 1/3 or less of what we charged for a service. Other insurance companies paid closer to 1/2 or 2/3, some even...

Well it's only Friday, but I seriously feel like I got hit by a truck. I am plum worn out. I don't even know where to start. The boys' school is 20 minutes away, because they are continuing to go to the school that they went to when they lived with their mom. So every day I spend about an hour and a half to two hours driving them to and from school. Husband has been crazy busy at work, so most mornings I have been getting them around for school alone. And a lot of times I'm winging it in the evenings too for at least part of the evening, again because he is just so busy with work. I think we are going to implement a new system, which one of my dear friends told me about. I made them charts with things they have to do in the mornings, and things they have to do at night. These are things like "eat breakfast", "put on clean socks, underwear, pants and shirt", "brush your teeth", etc. I know it sound simple, but let me tell you - I don...

First, a little about me. My husband of four years and I are not able to have kids of our own. We have three cats, two dogs, and a love for children. I decided long, long ago that I wanted to be a foster parent. It took my husband a little longer to come around, but he eventually got there. :) This blog is going to chronicle my adventures through the foster care system. I originally wrote the entry below on Monday, May 3, 2010: Well this weekend I: Had my fourth wedding anniversary Went to Wichita for a friend's wedding Ran my first marathon Became an official foster parent for the first time Needless to say - very busy! Our foster kids moved in with us yesterday. They came with exactly one suitcase. One of them had the clothes he was wearing, two pairs of pants, and two shirts. So three pairs of clothes all together. Then come to find out...they think they are only staying with us for a week. The case worker decided that it would be best not to tell them that they a...