Meet and Greet

   After a couple of weeks of getting the run-a-round from a few agencies, we decided to go with the original agency that we had orientation with. The location is not ideal, it's about an hour drive from us, but it's only once a week for ten weeks so I think we can handle it. We were told from the beginning not to let location hinder our choices. After training, as far as I was told, they come to you anyway.
 
   The first thing that we had to do was called a "meet-and-greet". That's where our "agent", (I have no idea what to actually call her lol), comes to the house to talk to us and look around. Keep in mind, this is not the same thing as a Home Study.
 
   She came over in the afternoon and we spent about 45 minutes talking. She asked us a lot of questions about ourselves and our family, also about our income, the age range that we'd like to foster...things like that. I think the point of the visit is for the agency to get a feel for the family.
 
   Next we took a tour through the house so she could look around. My house was a bit of a mess because I'd been down with a nasty case of Bronchitis for the last couple of weeks and I didn't bother to clean too much. I apologized and she laughed saying that she'd rather see a house that was a little messy than one that was spotless.

   Overall, I felt pretty good about the visit. It gave us just a little more insight 

into our journey as fosters.

Life Begins at 40 - Beginning Our Journey as Foster Parents

-First Entry-

  My husband and I have been discussing fostering on and off for a couple of years. Now that our 4 boys are older, (two grown and out of the house, one 15, and one 9), we've finally decided that fostering might be a real option for us.

  I had no idea where to start so I created a post in one of the facebook community groups that I belong to, asking other foster parents for guidance. I was told that the first thing I needed to do was attend an orientation. This is a basic meeting, telling you more about the program, what to expect, and how to get started.

  We attended orientation last week. It was only about an hour or so long and there were maybe 5-7 other people there. This meeting is very basic, but it is mandatory to start training. Our next step is to choose an agency to get licensed with. There are only four to choose from in out particular county, I've started calling around but have gotten no where so far.

  I started to really think about these kids and what they must have to go through. They're being ripped from their homes, torn from their families, bad situation or not, it's the only thing they've ever known. They're being put into a stranger's home, (sometimes in the middle of the night), and expected to just deal with it. I can't even imagine... It's devastating for them. I've even looked at my own two younger kids and wondered how they would react. I don't think it's something they would adapt to easily. This must be where a lot of the emotional and behavioral problems come from that we see too often in foster kids.

  I've also considered how the parents must feel. Although I may not condone whatever behavior has caused the children to be removed from the home, I still feel for the parents somehow. Wondering where their children are, if they're are safe, if they'll ever see them again. You hear horror stories about foster homes where the situation may even be worse then the original home, maybe they're just better at hiding it...Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that all, or even most foster homes are bad, but even 1% is too high of a number, and I'm sure there are at least that many.

  I want to help these kids. I want them to come into a safe home when theirs might not be. I hope that I can help them, or at least make them comfortable. I'm not interested in adopting, although that may change. I know that most of these kids end up back with their families, which is ideal. At first I thought it would be just like babysitting, then I started thinking about all of the emotional baggage that comes with the situation. I'm sure I still have no idea what I'm in for but I'm willing to give it a go.

  I was talking with a good friend of mine about my kids being grown and feeling like I had less to do, also feeling less needed. "Like they say, life begins at 40," he said. I think he meant that by 40 usually most, or all, of your kids are grown or at least self-sufficient and you can start living for yourself again. I don't know, that's just not for me. I'm not quite ready to be a grandma, but I still need tiny fingerprints and butterfly kisses.

So begins our journey...