As the new parent of a three-year old there are times that I am at my wits end; he is the most talkative little person I have ever met. When we got the call for a foster placement of a 2-1/2 year old and a 2-1/2 month old I thought it would be easy as pie and that I would handle it with the grace of the other foster parents I have met over the years I have been a part of the Connecticut DCF family. I fear though I might be sadly mistaken about my potential grace and abilities because I wonder several times a day if I am losing my mind. We had roughly 2 hours notice for the placement of the boys, so I was to become a mom again with 120 minutes notice, not the 9 months many moms are accustomed to. My husband and I picked up our 5-year old from her after school program and told her that she was getting brothers that night. She was almost bouncing off the walls in anticipation. I tried to explain that they were not with us forever, but that they were only with us for the amount of time their mom needed them taken care of, but she is five and immediately embraced them the way my family embraced her when she moved into our family a year before.
The boys’ ages were not exactly accurate; the younger was 3 months and the older turned 3 within a couple of weeks of moving into the family. I had never dealt with an infant before and the lack of sleep immediately started to get to me, we were nearly crazed with sleep depravation. I am happy to say now that at 4 months old he is sleeping through the night (knock on wood). It is amazing to see him start to discover the world around him and his place in it. He has found out that he can laugh, giggle, yell and my least favorite, screech. He reaches out for what he wants, and although he may be reaching some milestones a bit behind his peers because of whatever situation he came from he is catching up and we love every minute of watching him. My daughter wants to hold, hug and kiss him all the time and she just loves her baby brother, although I don’t think she is that thrilled when he cries in them middle of the night and wakes her up.
I have been a stay at home mom since the boys came to live with us, taking FMLA from work while we wait to see if they are staying with us for the long term. My 3-year old is my constant companion and talks to me, himself, the dog, or maybe the door from the time he gets up until the time to goes to bed in the evening. Thank goodness he still naps. I plan on getting him into a pre-school program, but like with my job I don’t want to make any decisions until I know that the boys will be around for some time. I can’t see uprooting him from a school he has just started in if he needs to be moved to a new family.
As I said though he is my constant companion and it’s not that I don’t love it, but sometimes I am just unable to listen to the constant stream of babble that comes out of his little mouth. He is a happy little boy and everyone that has met him absolutely loves him. He chats people up, laughs heartily at jokes and will give you the best hug that you have ever had. His repeating the last word or two of each of my sentences leaves something to be desired though.
These boys are a joy though and we will love them with all our heart and soul for the time they are with us, and when they have to move on we will still keep a small place in our hearts for them for the rest of our lives.
