This isn’t really Part 1 of our story, in that I want to tell you about our
fostering story as it is today, and work backwards from there. We have been
foster parents for 2 ½ years and currently have our 6th and 7th
placements.
We got the call for 3 yo SuperD (now he is 4 yo) in August 2012 while waiting for our last two girls to leave for their kinship home. We ended up having a 1 yo, 2 yo and 3 yo for three months before the two little ones left. That was too many kids for us, and my hat goes off to the many, many families who have more children than that all the time! SuperD is a fantastic little boy – sweet, kind, funny, an old soul. He is also often sad, hyper vigilant, talks nonstop, is very hyper, hides his feelings and tries desperately to please everyone due to fear of rejection.
We were his third placement in eight months, and it was probably unfair of us to accept him into our home at a time when we were saying goodbye to two girls we deeply loved. We have struggled to bond with him for months now, despite the fact that he is truly, truly a good kiddo. And now his case is probably going to adoption, leaving us with the tough choice of choosing to adopt him even though we don’t 100% feel that he is “our” child or putting him through another move to new strangers. The guilt we’re feeling is pretty immense and this decision is discussed nightly in our house. We are also going to great lengths to engage in attachment activities with SuperD in hopes that mentally we will be prepared to adopt him when the time comes.
We got the call for 2 month old Monkey (now 6 months) in November 2012, just one week after our other little girls left. She was tiny and super sick, and spent her second night with us in the hospital. Jeremy wasn’t even in town when she came to us and he met her for the first time at the hospital, having come straight from getting off of a red-eye flight from San Diego. That was a crazy week! We adore this little girl and have recently heard that she will likely be going to family soon. I have a LOT of concerns and reservations about any family situation she might go to, but it is totally not our choice. Fortunately, we do have a good relationship with her parents and I hope that when she does leave us, we will be able to offer to do respite or babysit sometimes.
Oddly, we have only met Monkey’s caseworker twice in four months, and she hasn’t been to visit since December. This is pretty unusual for our agency, and we’re quite frustrated. She hasn’t even officially told me another relative has filed for custody of Monkey. Instead, I heard it from Monkey’s mom and unofficially from another agency social worker.
I would love to hear how other foster parents handle the issue of uncommunicative caseworkers. Do you just deal, or do you complain to their superiors? We don’t like to make too many waves out of fear of not getting future placements (is it okay to admit that?), so we’re pretty low key unless we need to really advocate for one of our kiddos.
We got the call for 3 yo SuperD (now he is 4 yo) in August 2012 while waiting for our last two girls to leave for their kinship home. We ended up having a 1 yo, 2 yo and 3 yo for three months before the two little ones left. That was too many kids for us, and my hat goes off to the many, many families who have more children than that all the time! SuperD is a fantastic little boy – sweet, kind, funny, an old soul. He is also often sad, hyper vigilant, talks nonstop, is very hyper, hides his feelings and tries desperately to please everyone due to fear of rejection.
We were his third placement in eight months, and it was probably unfair of us to accept him into our home at a time when we were saying goodbye to two girls we deeply loved. We have struggled to bond with him for months now, despite the fact that he is truly, truly a good kiddo. And now his case is probably going to adoption, leaving us with the tough choice of choosing to adopt him even though we don’t 100% feel that he is “our” child or putting him through another move to new strangers. The guilt we’re feeling is pretty immense and this decision is discussed nightly in our house. We are also going to great lengths to engage in attachment activities with SuperD in hopes that mentally we will be prepared to adopt him when the time comes.
We got the call for 2 month old Monkey (now 6 months) in November 2012, just one week after our other little girls left. She was tiny and super sick, and spent her second night with us in the hospital. Jeremy wasn’t even in town when she came to us and he met her for the first time at the hospital, having come straight from getting off of a red-eye flight from San Diego. That was a crazy week! We adore this little girl and have recently heard that she will likely be going to family soon. I have a LOT of concerns and reservations about any family situation she might go to, but it is totally not our choice. Fortunately, we do have a good relationship with her parents and I hope that when she does leave us, we will be able to offer to do respite or babysit sometimes.
Oddly, we have only met Monkey’s caseworker twice in four months, and she hasn’t been to visit since December. This is pretty unusual for our agency, and we’re quite frustrated. She hasn’t even officially told me another relative has filed for custody of Monkey. Instead, I heard it from Monkey’s mom and unofficially from another agency social worker.
I would love to hear how other foster parents handle the issue of uncommunicative caseworkers. Do you just deal, or do you complain to their superiors? We don’t like to make too many waves out of fear of not getting future placements (is it okay to admit that?), so we’re pretty low key unless we need to really advocate for one of our kiddos.
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