Trick-or-Treat

So, the little girl’s older sister was moved to a different foster home. She made an accusation that required the county to do an investigation and remove the girl from the home. I got a call Monday evening informing me I could not take the baby to this foster home for daycare and have since enrolled him in the same daycare as his sister. It makes things a tad easier in the mornings, not having to run three different places. But, I know the family is so sad not having the baby because they love him so and took such good care of him (spoiled him a bit, but he deserves it). We shall see how things turn out. The kids mom was elated that the older girl got moved, not comprehending or perhaps not caring that once a kid starts moving around in foster care it’s hard to stop. And now CHOR has the added difficulty in placing her due to the accusations – no one wants to subject themselves to the same potential issue and scrutiny. I feel bad for the girl because, more than the younger sister I have with me, she is manipulated by her mother. For whatever reason, the mother didn’t like that foster home and so she planted the idea in the girls head to get out of that home and so the girl did it. When the kids visited with their grandmother, I used to take all three, but now I’m not sure how it will be worked out. In all honesty, I’m hoping the other family could take all the kids to the visits once in awhile because it’s an arduous task. We shall see. No visits have been planned to my knowledge. It’s exhausting keeping up with it all, sometimes. But, at least the girls get to see each other at visits twice a week.

 

So, despite the little ones having a visit and gumming up our plans, we are going trick-or-treating. Our family theme is characters from Once Upon a Time, the TV show. Primero is Red Riding Hood, I am the Wicked Witch (from last season), the little girl is the blue fairy (with a blue tutu and wings) and the baby is a pirate (or Captain Hook, although he has an eye patch and not a hook, that’s not practical for a baby!). We are going to my friends neighborhood, since my area is lame and doesn’t have much action and I am so excited because this is my very first Halloween with kids! I’ve never taken children trick-or-treating before! And when I was a kid living on the farm, we couldn’t walk to houses my parents had to drive us around so we only went to people’s houses we knew and who lived nearby. So, this is an all-around brand-new experience for me and  I’m hoping the kids enjoy it!

 

This may sound silly, but it was hard for me to drop the baby off at a new daycare this week. Not because I don’t trust the daycare because I do, I think they are awesome and it would be my first choice for my own children. But, this little one who still keeps me up half the night has a huge hunk of my heart and I want nothing but the very best for him. I would rather keep him strapped to my chest than let anyone else take care of him, but alas, I must work and someone else must cuddle him and kiss his sweet, soft cheeks. Primero has been involved in an after school program at the same center for the arts where he had camp this past summer and so it has given me a few nights alone with the little girl and the baby. It has been a very nice bonding time for me and the little girl after the baby falls asleep. We don’t do anything special, we read or sit and watch cartoons together, sometimes she plays while I wash the dishes, but I can feel us growing closer as we get these few moments alone, just her and I. And, I am beginning to see us as a cohesive little family, my little family, one I am fiercely proud of, one I love with all I’ve got. We might be a strange little motley crew, but we have plenty of love to go around. Sometimes I get pangs for a Mr. to be in the picture, I never really thought I would be doing this alone, but at this point I’m so used to being the one and only adult I’m not even sure how we would function with a second grown-up in the mix. So, it’s just the four of us; a happy and healthy little family. Oh, how sweet it is!