Brandon and I have always talked about doing Foster care or Proctor care since the time we got married. We looked into it a couple times but it never seemed to be the right time. Once I went part time we decided that now was a good time to do foster care. We talked to the kids about it and they were over the moon excited.
In Spring of 2011 we started taking foster care classes. I think everyone should take these classes before becoming a parent, they are great. There is a lot involved in becoming a foster parent. You have to take courses, pass background checks, have your house inspected and meet certain requirements. Once all of these are complete and you pass you can get your license.
In Sept. 2011 we had a meeting with our case worker and we had been approved. We had our foster care license. Brandon and I joked of how long it would be before we got the call for kids needing placement. He guessed a week or so and I thought at least a month. We only requested to get younger kids due to the age of our kids and our previous experiences we wanted Tabitha and Carston to be the oldest in the house. This is why I thought it would take longer because there are more foster homes for younger children.
3 hrs after getting out license I get a phone call welcoming us to Foster care. I thought this was just something they did to all Foster parents , that was not the case. The lady continued by saying " I know you said you only wanted one placement at a time but if under certain circumstances you would consider taking more". She proceeded to say we have three children living in the Christmas box house in Ogden that we cannot find a placement for. We have called everyone we can and nobody can take three. If we don't find someone to take all three their time is up in the Christmas box house so we would have to separate them...
The next call I placed was to Brandon. I remember telling him that we both lost the bet and we already had a call. I mumbled when I told him they wanted us to take three. After he clarified that I said three he told me I was the one at home so it was up to me. I called the social worker back and asked more details. She told me we could go meet the boys that night.
That night we went and met all three boys ages 11 months, 2 and 4. We of course said we would take them home and they told us to think about it over night. I thought what is there to think about we want to take them, but they seemed adamant we think it over.
We went home and told the kids all that we knew about the boys and they were so excited. That night I couldn't sleep. I woke up crying and scared to death. What was I doing? We only had three kids and they were old enough for the majority of things to be self sufficient. How could I bring 3 tiny kids into our home and double the number of kids we had. I talked to Brandon and he assured me he would stand behind me whatever I decided.
After a very long night and morning I had made a decision... I was not going to be able to take care of these boys. I couldn't go pick them up. I decided to tell our kids my decision. That didn't go over well at all. Tabitha & Carston started to cry. They begged and pleaded that I change my mind. They told me they would be split up and how could I do that to them. Tabitha promised she would change every diaper. They both agreed they would do whatever it took to have these boys come into our home. I explained in detail how hard it might be and of course it didn't matter what I said they were all in.
A few hrs later we were in the car with three car seats going to pick up our Foster boys.
In Spring of 2011 we started taking foster care classes. I think everyone should take these classes before becoming a parent, they are great. There is a lot involved in becoming a foster parent. You have to take courses, pass background checks, have your house inspected and meet certain requirements. Once all of these are complete and you pass you can get your license.
In Sept. 2011 we had a meeting with our case worker and we had been approved. We had our foster care license. Brandon and I joked of how long it would be before we got the call for kids needing placement. He guessed a week or so and I thought at least a month. We only requested to get younger kids due to the age of our kids and our previous experiences we wanted Tabitha and Carston to be the oldest in the house. This is why I thought it would take longer because there are more foster homes for younger children.
3 hrs after getting out license I get a phone call welcoming us to Foster care. I thought this was just something they did to all Foster parents , that was not the case. The lady continued by saying " I know you said you only wanted one placement at a time but if under certain circumstances you would consider taking more". She proceeded to say we have three children living in the Christmas box house in Ogden that we cannot find a placement for. We have called everyone we can and nobody can take three. If we don't find someone to take all three their time is up in the Christmas box house so we would have to separate them...
The next call I placed was to Brandon. I remember telling him that we both lost the bet and we already had a call. I mumbled when I told him they wanted us to take three. After he clarified that I said three he told me I was the one at home so it was up to me. I called the social worker back and asked more details. She told me we could go meet the boys that night.
That night we went and met all three boys ages 11 months, 2 and 4. We of course said we would take them home and they told us to think about it over night. I thought what is there to think about we want to take them, but they seemed adamant we think it over.
We went home and told the kids all that we knew about the boys and they were so excited. That night I couldn't sleep. I woke up crying and scared to death. What was I doing? We only had three kids and they were old enough for the majority of things to be self sufficient. How could I bring 3 tiny kids into our home and double the number of kids we had. I talked to Brandon and he assured me he would stand behind me whatever I decided.
After a very long night and morning I had made a decision... I was not going to be able to take care of these boys. I couldn't go pick them up. I decided to tell our kids my decision. That didn't go over well at all. Tabitha & Carston started to cry. They begged and pleaded that I change my mind. They told me they would be split up and how could I do that to them. Tabitha promised she would change every diaper. They both agreed they would do whatever it took to have these boys come into our home. I explained in detail how hard it might be and of course it didn't matter what I said they were all in.
A few hrs later we were in the car with three car seats going to pick up our Foster boys.
No comments:
Post a Comment