March 2010
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And, my blood returns to boiling
A few minutes ago, 8pm on a Sunday evening, I received a voicemail from Jacket’s case worker telling me to call him immediately.
I called. I said “What’s the emergency?”. He said there isn’t one. He needs to schedule a visit. He wants to come tomorrow night. Ok, fine.
He calls back. This time I answer. “DID THE PEOPLE COME?!” “What...
February 2010
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I should probably read these books but I'd rather...
Practical Tools for Foster Parents
Success as a Foster Parent
An Unlit Path
A Guide to Foster Parenting: Everything but the kids!
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"But don't you get attached?"
Second only to the “Why” question, I’m asked this all. the. time. To which I always say
“Yes. You’re supposed to. I think that’s why they’re looking for human beings to foster and not robots”.
But of course, people still look at me as if I’m a robot, so much so that I start to wonder if I’m heartless, cold and have boxy shoulders. ...
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today my baby became a woman
Ok, well that’s a bit of an exaggeration. However, she did go directly from baby-babble to human conversation overnight. Not that anyone can understand what she’s saying.
This afternoon she shouted with complete conviction to the taxi driver “HEY, ABBY MOT PEE TAY UNA SOW NATSU YAKEEM! and instead of getting the typical aww-isn’t-she-cute look he asked me for a...
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“Hi Rebecca, it’s me Snap’s Mom. Listen, I’m sorry I...”
– voicemail from Snap’s Mom left 5 minutes ago
Fosterhood →
Aww, thank you! Let me know if you ever pursue it.
foodinherbelly:
This blog seriously makes me want to be a Foster Parent =]
I love this blog.
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Who are crayons kidding? Kids want MARKERS. And don’t even get me started on colored pencils…
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“Your newest daycare voucher application was rejected, probably because your...”
– Yes, I got this same voicemail message last month and resubmitted everything last month. Perhaps the documents shouldn’t sit on someone’s desk for 30-days before being processed…just a suggestion.
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He he. Someone wound-up here simply by googling “co-sleeping equipment”.
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Internet, don't freak
But was that a beer in the hand of a guy with crossed-eyes who answered the door at my kid’s daycare yesterday?
Oh, Lordy…….Let me stop and think for a second. If *I* was running a daycare, what are the chances that someone might be standing around with a martini in their hand at 3pm? Quite likely, actually.
Dear Internet, a genuine question
Do you think I’m doing enough to protect my kids’ privacy while still drumming up interest for the fosterhood lifestyle among my peers?
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Heart-stopping either way
It’s only been two months but the idea of Jacket going back to her biological mother AND the idea of adopting her both horrify me. More like petrify me. As in ‘to convert into a stony replica’.
Half the time I feel frozen into some sort of uncomfortable catatonic shape. And I finally get it. I understand why Oprah’s audience applauds half of the guests on her show...
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A friend of mine who works as a social worker at a foster care agency in the city said that she had a birth mom give her kid an enema during a visit and still nothing was done…
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thanks coach
Phrase #5 to enter her vocabulary:
“Good Job!”
Fortunately she hasn’t yet picked up “Fucking Hell!”, “You stink!”, “Go Away!” or “Stop staring at me!”.
I received a “Good Job!”, like a high-five, after changing her diaper this morning. I’ve created my own positive reinforcement coach.
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If you eat ice cream for breakfast, you have to give your 1 year-old some too.
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Pull out your hankies, folks
About a block from the apartment Jacket pointed to our building and shouted “HOME!”
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I may need a treatment plan
Apparently, blogging alone from a bar after purchasing “Eat Pray Love” is the equivalent of a suicidal gesture to my friends who know me well. Within minutes I started getting phone calls.
So yeah, I’m starting to feel more bummed-out than “fascinated by my frustration” these days. It only occurred to me just now though that any person who starts their days...
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The visit summary
I arrived 45 minutes early to the agency so I sat in the lobby at the never-manned security desk. You know those signs in hospital elevators that said “Remember to maintain patient privacy”, well they need one of those.
When I arrived, the case worker, Jacket and her mom were literally sitting in the dark. I didn’t even ask why the lights had been turned off already. They...
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So, the foster care agency doesn't revolve around...
Regarding tonight’s visit:
After trying to call the case worker (again, no word since Dec. 16, 2009), his supervisor (who loves to talk to me and put me down), or the supervisor’s supervisor, I called the ever faithful home-finding case worker who answered his phone immediately.
He said the supervisor is in the hospital because she got into “a physical altercation with another...
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have I mentioned that visits suck?
The babysitter just sent me a text saying “Mom says she’s supposed to have her until 7:30 or 8:00pm”.
The visit is usually only until 7pm but we did have a snow day last week. It would be nice if someone from the agency would call me back. By 7pm the only staff person who is around is typically the receptionist who is counting down the seconds to lock the door. I am NOT...
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1,176 visitors to the blog yesterday?!
Wow, I don’t know where everyone is coming from, but thank you!
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hallucinating words
Jacket is always babbling but it seems as though, if you listen closely, she’s saying subliminal messages. Like maybe if I record her and then play it backwards a formula for the ultimate lip gloss will be revealed.
For example, I was changing her diaper, asking her to repeat the word “Diaper” and I SWEAR she sang “DiaPers Keep My Butt Dry!”
WatchI suppose at some point you all are going to become annoyed by the reblogs of others posting that I’m so fucking great. Until then, I’m having butt-loads of fun. So yay for the I’M SO GREAT posts!
rebeka21:
This woman is an inspiration to say the least….She is a young foster parent in NYC and her blog is absolutely incredible, I advise everyone to at least check it out for...
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Early intevention evaluation Scores
I never reported on Jacket’s early intervention eval except to say that it was determined that she didn’t need services. Here are the scores of her DAYC (Developmental Assessment of Young Children) which ran Very Poor, Poor, Below Average, Average, Above Average, Superior, Very Superior:
Cognitive- 27% (Average)
Communication- 14% (Below Average)
Socio-Emotional- 32% (Average)
...
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her first two sentence
Her first two sentences came on the same day. At 6am I was awoken to “I WANNA EAT!” which came out as clear as the sky is blue. Then it was “I WANT IT!”.
Here we go….
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Blog I Ate That I LOVED
sooooo flattered!
thingsiatethatilove:
fosterhood:
Jacket woke up at 2:30am, sang the ABCs, applauded herself, whispered ‘yay!’, and then went back to sleep.
I found the best blog on the Internet, you guys. Fosterhood in NYC is a normal, funny, cool, young person who lives in the East Village and is essentially just like you and me except that she occasionally spends sleepless nights...
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i bet the case worker would call me if...
I switched to cloth diapers and she wore them to her birth mom visit. he he.
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Jacket’s case worker hasn’t returned my calls or emails since December 16th, 2009.
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crying = imminent death
If you’ve been reading for a while, you know that I subscribe to the “free-range parenting” style, if any. Some might even describe me as cavalier. But alas, tis not always my state of mind.
For example, today I put Jacket down for a nap and she went to sleep without any fuss. About 10 minutes later I started to hear her make gasping sounds similar to the ones that occur just...
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the witching hour
is from 5:30pm-6:30pm in case any one was wondering.
