I'll Race you to the Potty!

Potty training has begun full force at our house - and like everything, we have to do it the hard way. We have not one, but two little tushes vying for the royal seat. Sometimes it can be quite cute. One of the girls will yell "potty!" and start running, and the other one will try to cut her off at the pass. I have even watched as one tried to rip the other off the seat!

Even though they fight to go first, they still like to praise each other for a job well done. Things can get a little hectic trying to keep the M&M jar filled, but it has helped to keep the interest up. And they both pronounce M&Ms the same way - "num nahs."

Will the competition help them to learn quicker, or ultimately will it prolong the process? Only time will tell.

I will tell you my proudest moment came yesterday and I could tell that the youngest was really getting how important praise is for everyone - now matter how old.

I walked in the pool room (our room with a pool table) and said I'd be out in a minute and walked in the bathroom. As I walked out the door and shut it, D looked up at me and started clapping wildly and yelling "yeah!!!"

It was my first standing ovation and I will always remember it.

~Susan

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work.
Ecclesiastes 4:9

I'd Give You the Moon. . .

Sometimes children ask for easy things; in fact, when they are younger it is usually the easy stuff.

Can I have some milk?

Can I go with you?

Hold me please?

These are just a small sampling of the requests I got today from our two year old foster daughter. We don't know how long she will be with us so we are eager to please, creating a bond with her so she will feel loved and secure while with us.

Meeting their needs helps. I got the little stuff today.

When Neil came home the request was a little bigger and not so easy to fill.

M (who we found out is actually an "A") looked up and saw something big and bright in the sky.

She looked to Neil, my husband, and asked him, "what's that?"

He said, "It's the moon."

"Get it!" A said.

"I can't get it."

"Too big," A innocently asked?

"Yeah, too big," he replied.

"Oh," she said, and ran off to play with her foster sisters.

~Susan

Set your affection on things above,
Not on things on the earth.
Colossians 3:2

Chocolate Milk and Cheetos

Well, I think I may have heard it all. I am shocked a bit, and as a foster care mom, you may think it is hard to shock me. You hear such unbelievable stories from and about birth parents. As one social worker told me, as she tried to defend her decision to send a child back to a parent who was seriously lacking in any skills and resources to take of a child let alone herself,

"we can't expect these moms to have the same parenting skills as you do, and what we may think is bad parenting may just be their parenting style"

So what was so shocking? I spoke to M's mom today. She called me on my cell. M moved in on Friday, five days ago. Her mom has been in a rehab center and must have just got calling privileges.

M's mom seemed really sincere in our conversation and was grateful to me for taking care of her daughter. Actually said she appreciated my family for helping her out.

Then she started to share little parenting secrets. You know, those wee little gems that other experienced moms share at the park, and you then share with others. Something you will pass down to friends, sisters, and eventually your own daughters.

So how does M love to wake up and spend her morning? She was about to tell me a gem.

M loves to have chocolate milk in the morning. She even gave me her recipe.

"Buy the chocolate syrup and squeeze a ton of it in the milk"

Simple enough.

She said M loves it and will "lap it up."

M will sometimes take a morning nap then. I didn't have the heart to tell her that this was a sugar induced coma.

And now her mom dares to share her secret for a good breakfast. You guessed it.

Cheetos. She actually said that M's favorite breakfast is chocolate milk and cheetos. Loves it!

Cheerios?? I wanted to ask, but the mom was clear. She hadn't misspoke.

So there you have it. You may be surprised to know that I have decided not to give M chocolate milk and cheetos for breakfast. I just can't, no matter how much she loves it.

Hey, that wouldn't be fair to my bio kids who still eat unsweetened cereals and bread with actual wheat flour.

~Susan

Ask your child what he wants for dinner only if he's buying.
~Fran Lebowitz

Busy with new baby. . .

I almost gave up blogging, but my dear friend Jennifer convinced me to give this another try, so here I am.

We have a new little one, who ain't so little ;-) We were hoping and praying for an infant, but when the phone rings it it hard to say no to someone who needs you, even if you think you need someone else.

Our foster agency called about a two year old little girl on Friday night. I have an almost two year old now, so in hindsight, this seems a little crazy. Wow, are we busy. But many hands make light work.

The baby? Well, she is so big there will be no sharing of clothes between the girls. She is tall and big, but still has a baby face and baby chub. We were told M is half black and half white. She really is 100% adorable. One parent, probably mom, is blond. M has got quite a head of dark blond curls. I complain about my frizzy hair, but no more. This is a whole new ball game! Jennifer has experience with black hair from her two little boys so we called her for help. My bottle of frizz eaze just isn't cutting it.

M came to us with the clothes on her back and socks on her feet. Right away she was happy to go with us, but has started to ask for some relatives such as grandma and daddy. We are sad for her. She must be so scared, but she hides it well, blessing us with more smiles as the days go on.

Her mom has court on Wednesday so I will find out then what is happening. We are thinking that there may be a relative who comes forward to take her. M was well taken care of (clean and well fed) so we think someone out there loves this baby. If there is a relative, we know M may go, but she will not be as scared.

We don't want her to go, but a loving grandma may be missing her so we are trying to be prepared. She is so big, with a huge head of blond frizz and tons of dimples when you can coax her binky out of her mouth long enough. We can't look at her and not smile - really.

We didn't really want a two year old now, but we took M because we thought she needed us. I think we really needed her if you want to know the truth. M may be here for a week, a year, or forever. We don't know. But we will always be grateful we said yes when the phone rang. We just didn't know what God had in store.

~Susan

When they placed you in my arms, you slipped into my heart.
~ Author Unknown