The Craziness of it All

I am learning a lot about myself through this process of fostering. I must and I mean must become more structured. The kids have been here for one week and I want to give you a glimpse into what our transition times have looked like.

Every week our boys go to meet their parents at our agency. The assistant caseworker comes to pick them up from our house and I pick them up from the agency. So the day came for the first meeting. The caseworker arrived at our home at 8:20 only to find Little Man still in his pj's while I was still trying to feed him oatmeal! Baby boy, on the other hand was in his car seat feeding himself a bottle. And I was frazzled....

Great first impression, huh?

Fortunately she was quite nice about it all.

The next day Raegan had preschool. 10 minutes before we needed to leave our house, LM was still in bed asleep and BB needed a breathing treatment, food, and a bottle!

And I? Well I was feeling rather frazzled!

I called my dear friend who graciously came and picked up Raegan for preschool! Thank you Lori!

And then there was today.

I planned ahead ((applause)) that Paige would take the bus so that I could let the boys sleep in because Clint and I were up quite a bit through the night with them both. 10 minutes before (hmmm, there seems to be a pattern here) the bus was to come, Paige was...actually ready, teeth brushed and everything!

Then I innocently picked up her bag and noticed she had an unfinished assignment sitting there. Just staring at me. It was not a little assignment. It required a lot of coloring and drawing and my girl is not a quick "color-er". She adds details. Little details. Stick people are not her thing.

And so, I told her I would take her to school so she could finish her work. (I now realize I should have allowed her to face her own consequences but I didn't - it is hard being a mom and making those tough decisions, you know). Anyway, while she worked - I barked orders at the others.

And yes, I was frazzled. Again. Time was slipping by at a rapid pace. Then I decided that we were just going to be late. Again.

Raegan was still in her pj's - that was fine. LM had not shoes on - no problem. We all hustled out to the van at 9:10 am. School started at 9:00 am by the way. I called the school on the way to tell them we were late. The secretary informed me that all first grade classes were testing until 10am so Paige would not be able to go to class until 10:00! And so I turned around and headed back home.

At 5 till 10:00 we all loaded back in the van. Raegan was still in her pj's, LM still had no shoes and off we went. Again.

I pulled up to the school. Opened the car door and out piled my children. Raegan in her pj's and LM with no shoes. We were quite the crew, let me tell you! I explained to the secretary that we just added two children to our family last week and were trying desperately to figure out how to get out the door on time. She was kind, thankfully! I kissed Paige and herded the rest of the crew out the door.

Mm, hmm.

Tomorrow looks brighter, I do believe! :) I have a new plan. I will be a new woman! Well that's the goal anyway! :)