Talking to foster/adoptive kids about their story

I've been wanting to make a book for each of the girls that tells the story of their history with age appropriate information. The perfectionist in me has procrastinated for months, I wanted to draw it in Corel, edit it in Photoshop and have it professionally bound. This week I just sat down and got it done. I used blank 4x6 index cards, Sharpie markers and a simple photo album. It doesn't have any words so the story can be told orally and changed as they understand more.

Jo loves her book and wants me to read it over and over again.

Dream Home ....take 2

So this past week DP and I have been mulling over the idea of renovating a house. Why? You ask? Well, as a foster parent my family expands and contracts at a quick pace. Read A Call and add to that ....CJ has two older sisters that may come into care. I say may....but that's another post to write about.

It's only an idea that we have been lightly considering because we do love our house and there is not much on the market to entice us into action.

But it brings up the notion that we could possibly keep adding to our family unexpectedly through new sibling births. Jo's mother should be past childbirth age now and Lili's mother should be able to parent any future children....but new placement's siblings? That opens up a whole new chapter in our lives.

Sharing Info

As a foster/adoptive parent I often struggle with sharing my children's info with others. I want to be able to share my life like a typical parent, asking for advice and venting when frustrated. On the other hand I don't want to share too much info that I will regret it later (Oh, she's a drug baby...that's why she does that) or worry that I might be compromising a foster child's privacy.

I struggle with that here on the blog too. So sometimes big things are happening in my world and I'm not sure how to phrase it or how much to tell here. I want to share my experiences with the system to inform and to advocate......and to feel a sense of community. One of the hardest parts of being an "employee" of the system is not having the support and network of close "co-workers". At an office job it's often easy to relate the woes of a work day with someone over the cubicle.

So in a way having this blog and reading other foster/adoptive blogs is a lot like corporate "Knowledge Management" Knowledge management is described as “the process of capturing and sharing a community’s collective expertise to fulfill its mission.”

Thanks for stopping by my cubicle today.

Hey do you smell cake?

No Impact Man

Every once in a while I happen upon a blog that draws me in. Like a good book I can't stop reading, can't stop telling my friends about it.

Check out No Impact Man

His blog description is "A guilty liberal finally snaps, swears off plastic, goes organic, becomes a bicycle nazi, turns off his power, composts his poop and, while living in New York City, generally turns into a tree-hugging lunatic that tries to save the polar bears and the rest of the planet from environmental catastrophe while dragging his baby daughter and Prada-wearing, Four Seasons-loving wife along for the ride.

I'm in awe....but even if you think he's crazy....it's like a car wreck....you have to look.

Concoctions

You haven't seen any new hair pictures lately because the hair has been wild and free. I've been keeping it down and simple while I work on perfecting some new hair and skin concoctions. I was running out of my Carol's Daughter Healthy Hair Butter and decided to go online order some ingredients and try my hand at making some new hair goo at home.

I ordered Shea butter (shown in the brown paper), Coconut oil (in the tall jar), Jojoba oil, vegetable glycerin, Cocoa butter, Olive oil, essential oils and Avocado oil.

I already mixed up some great skin souffle (in the small tin) and it is terrific. I'm still waiting for my Cocoa Butter to be delivered before I whip up any specific hair potions. I've been experimenting with combinations of the different products and judging how their hair does with them.

I can't wait to mix up some more!

A Call

My last placement, Baby Ekida, was moved to the foster home that had her older sibling. I was just updated by her CASA worker that her case will be moving to terminate parental rights and recommend adoption by the foster parents. I'm happy that she will have some permanency rather quickly and that she will share her life with her sibling.

I'm sad to hear that her family may need us again. Mom is pregnant and they have asked if we would be willing to take the new baby when it comes into care. We said yes. The other foster family is unable to take any more children and they know that we will maintain sibling contact.

I don't know if we will actually get called, mom has tried to hide this pregnancy and she left the state to give birth to Ekida in order to escape DFS.

So for now...we wait and see.

The way it is.

If you have a minute check out Claud's post at Musings of the Lame: Yeah, I'll bother..

It addresses so much of the responsibility that I feel to maintain some sort of contact with my kids parents & siblings.