I am going to begin this blog by saying I hope you all view this as a safe place, both for me to post my ramblings and for you to come and show support.
We are currently facing the endless challenges in place for obtaining our Foster Care licensing through our agency and the state. It seems that it comes with never ending checklists, purchases of things like fire extinguishers, baby gates, and a medicine lock box.
It is a beautiful journey as we prepare our home for the endless things we may or may not need for children from birth to age 8. We are blessed that we have friends who have stepped up and loaned us furniture, a few baby gear items, and volunteered their children's gently loved items. I cannot say thank you to them enough, and I hope that they know how grateful we are. I promise to pay it forward in the future.
I am trying to not get overwhelmed by the impact preparing for this journey has had on us. It is a joy filled feeling, but some days I feel completely lost in the preparations and am afraid I will never be truly prepared. Because of the long list of supplies we need, I have created a baby list registry to hopefully help us get some things we need. At first, I questioned myself ..
Was I being greedy?
Shouldn't I be able to provide everything on my own?
Would people think we were silly for having a registry?
Would people judge us for asking for things for children we had not met?
I responded to my own doubts with more doubt, and then as more people asked me how we were coming with our process I began to tell them about all the things we needed. I was asked several times "Why do you need these things, you don't even have a kid yet?". I thought long and hard about how to respond, and this is the best I could come up with.
We need these things in the same sense that an expecting couple needs items, we just need different things. We need things that are usable across a wide range of ages, items that will hopefully limit the things I will need in the midnight run to the store prior to a new placement that will be coming into our home. We also want to be able to celebrate the new arrival(s) that will be coming into our hearts and homes, as we have been able to celebrate with so many of our friends in the past and plan to celebrate in the future. So I am writing this to attempt to get the obsessive through train out of my mind about making a "baby" registry. We don't expect anyone to help us, but if someone wants to, we will be grateful! We cannot wait to begin making a positive impact in our community by fostering children who need a temporary place of love and peace.
The upside to this journey has been the immense growth we have had as a couple. The interview process, the process of cleaning out and preparing our home, and the MAPP classes have forced us to communicate and evaluate our lives in a way we never would have otherwise. I am proud to say we have made great strides in our relationship and the way we communicate with each other.
I am excited to continue on this journey, despite some of the hurdles that have been in the way, I know they are only making us stronger and more ready for bigger ones.
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