With our licensing being completed soon and the possibility of grandkids in the next 5 years or so, I have been thinking about the house that we are and want to be. There are some small new traditions I would like to add, but overall, we are the house we want to be.
*The Game House. Games build relationships. We learn new concepts together. We learn how to lose to one another. We just have fun together. Whether we are playing games for school, as an after dinner event, or hosting a full game day with the siblings over during summer break, games are the main attraction at our house because it allows the adults and the kids to do something together. We have a game closet with LOTS of games to choose from, a different kind of game for every personality. My brother, one of my sisters, and Little S all love complex strategy. Another sister likes the old school classics. And another sister as well as Big S prefer any simple dice or card game that gives them the opportunity to just talk. It anchors us all to the table together doing something we all enjoy.
*The Food House. This is smoked meats on the weekends and holidays. It's popcorn in the popcorn popper. It's ice cream with a movie. S'mores when driveway camping. And I'm not talking about off brand. I mean the good stuff. Farm fresh meat. Purple kernel gourmet popcorn with salt. Blue Bell. Ghirardelli chocolate in your s'mores. (Our daily diet is all whole foods, but when we eat junk, we go all out!)
*The Trampoline House. The trampoline is an attraction for the kids, no doubt about it. I was afraid we lost this one. When Little S started hurting, she stopped jumping, but now that her pain is gone, she is willing to jump. The olders are done with it, but we have a whole new round of littles coming that I am confident will enjoy it.
This is the family we are.
*The Church Family. Where can you find us every Wednesday into the late hours, every Sunday morning into the afternoon, and several other days in between? Our home away from home. Church. 🩷
Who welcomes every single child we bring in through those doors? Our church family. If a kid wants to go to church, they know who to ask and they can be confident they will learn, they will have fun, and they will be loved.
*The Outdoor Family. What is our favorite hobby outside of the house? Paddle boarding. Kayaking. Maybe a tiny bit of camping if we are feeling froggy. Who can you trust to find an adventure nearby? That's us. Will it be last minute? Maybe. Probably. But will it be the best time? Absolutely!
I would love to come up with special holiday traditions and ways to love kids coming in and out of the house or even our future grandchildren without having to always spend a fortune. For years, we have been able to love on the kids around us without having to spend a ton and buy a lot of stuff. Going forward, I would still love to keep it simple, but personal.
Side Notes:
We have come face to face with our first setback/frustration. My husband missed two classes of our NTDC training because he was traveling out of town for work. We were told that we would make the classes up one on one once we completed the remainder of our training. We completed it. We reached out to schedule our classes, and we were told we just need to jump into another class instead of meeting with someone one on one. It's frustrating for various reasons, mostly my husband's job schedule, but it's a little thing in the scheme of everything. We are several weeks behind, but that is okay. It isn't a race. I am learning that not everything is an emergency and I can't treat it as such. I have to be willing to wait for responses and not get worked up. It is a lesson I am really leaning into. Next week is the week we begin makeup classes. Just two. We are looking at mid September for when we can open our house up.
I wrote this a few weeks ago, and it is funny how things vacillate back and forth so quickly. I got in contact with the lady in charge of class and she is such a joy to talk to. We still have our two classes to make up, but she was more flexible than I imagined, and I think it will work out well.
Second side note....We talked and decided to go forward with respite care and add emergency placements as well, which I imagine will keep us busier. I don't need people to affirm everything we do with positive opinions about how wonderful life will be and what a great choice it is. But fostering is a ministry and an opportunity to see God work, so at the very least, I expect them to be excited about that. To be praying. To check in. I mean, these are God fearing Christian women. We have only told select people because we don't feel that we need to shout it from the rooftops. However, many of these people have known for years how passionate we are about caring for these children and I view them as our support system when the time comes. Even if it is just people that we might ask for advice from or possibly vent to. However, I feel like there has been a lack of support by 75% of those we talked to. Those who have been supportive are church family. Honestly, it's a little heart breaking. With that said, I know it's a taboo subject. I am definitely looking forward to the community God brings that can walk with us and understand.
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