How can you be scared of a face like this?
We spent 6-1/2 hours (1 more than we even needed!) yesterday with an incredible foster family. They had us over for BBQ and we even met some of their extended family. This foster family has two biological children, one with Muscular Dystrophy. They are licensed to be a therapeutic home (working with high need children) and request children with disabilities. They are fostering 7 and 4 year old brothers. The 7 year old had his toes removed from both feet before being taken from his biological mother. I don't know all the details, but I do know it wasn't an accident. As horrifying as that sounds, there are still more reasons these children were removed from their "home".
We all know these stories exist. It's another thing to hear these stories and meet these little heroes face-to-face. The boys are adorable and thriving in their foster home. The family showed us how they set up their home, how they set standards as soon as the boys came in, gave us tips on dealing with caseworkers and CPS, and basically just gave us a better idea over all of what to expect. We heard about the first year the boys were in the house, and experiences they had trying to settle the kids into their home: screaming, acting out, trying to regulate medication, dealing with court issues and family who "wanted" the boys, etc.
Foster families keep telling us to hang in there for the first year, then it will get better. It sounds like we'd better fasten our seat belts and get ready for a wild ride!
One thing that did come up is that one of the boys is VERY afraid of dogs. I hadn't thought about that being an issue, both of our great-nieces were afraid of our dogs but when we gradually introduced them it became a non-issue. However Maggie is huge and I can see how she would be intimidating. On the other hand, I will not send a child out of our home (in their eyes: rejection) over my dog. I love my dogs, it makes me feel sick to think about giving them up. My parents offered to keep Maggie for us if it ever becomes an issue.
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