Let me start by clearing something up. In my previous post I spoke about the foster kids. What I said about them was meant in a nice way, though sarcasm doesn’t carry well over text. The boys are good kids and I do really like them. I want the best for them and that includes them returning to their parents. With that said, I stand by what I said; it’s not always easy raising the kids. Natalie and I stopped having kids after the second because we found the two were maxing out what we were prepared to raise. Adding 3 more kids to the mix is really pushing us beyond what we were ready for and the fact that they are young hyper boys doesn’t help. We are a family of 4 with a temporary upgrade to 7. We can’t even find a clear row of seats in the church any more.

Over the time we’ve had them we’ve got the younger boys to learn to dress themselves, ask politely for more juice (we’re still working on it, but it’s getting very close) and Natalie has even got them mostly potty trained. I haven’t seen them hit the girls in a while, though they don’t like that a girl can hit a boy but a boy can’t hit a girl. All they know is if they do hit a girl, any girl, they get to spend a while in their room followed by a lecture from me. My point is that Natalie and I are working with the boys and I think it’s going very well. The last few weeks have been especially hard though. Since the weather started getting colder and dark started sooner we haven’t been able to send the kids out so late and our home is not meant to host 5 screaming kids. There’s been a slow tension building that is difficult to find a release for. Thankfully, tomorrow the kids will go to their aunts to spend the night. This is a break that is long over due.

I now know the importance of taking a break. When the kids go to their aunts home it gives Natalie and I a chance to be with just our kids. There’s nothing in the world better than spending time holding your daughter in your lap. The foster program offers another program called “Respite Foster Care”. Respite is a system that gives the real foster parents a short break. I’ve often thought that we could continue being foster parents after these boys go back, but I don’t know if that would work for me. I believe the respite program would fit Natalie and I better.

To sum this up, the kids are great and everything is fine with us. I still want the kids to go back with their parents before they become attached to us, which I fear is already happening. Aside from the kids, every day it feels like my conversations with Aubrey are getting more and more mature. She’s saying things that are just surprising to me – though I can’t think of any examples at the moment. She’s also a very good organizer (which she gets from me).

This next week is Thanksgiving and I’m taking the week off work. I have a hunch that I’ll be doing a lot of work anyway though. I know I’ll be watching the kids some days, but as long as Netflix is working I’ll manage. I’ll try not to focus on the kids so much in my next post. But this one I wanted to be sure that my feelings towards the kids is clear.