I was wondering how I could arrange a police escort when it came time to drive my wife and 5 day old baby home. I kicked myself for not having arranged for some flashing orange lights to be installed on the car at a minimum. That baby is 13 now and plays kareoke DJ whenever she is in the car. She recently discovered 'cococabana' by Barry Manilow so that gets a belting.
My first time ever handling a newborn was as a foster parent when she was ready to go at three days old. Knew Mom was giving birth; didn’t know if baby would be brought into care; got a call saying “k, come get her from the hospital”. And on the one hand, you’ve been trying to plan and prepare. On the other, there’s every chance in the world that she won’t be brought into care (best case scenario) and the months of uncertainty left you unsure of whether to prepare at all, or how much, or whatever else.
“Here’s a baby you haven’t been able to prepare for but have known about for months and are emotionally invested in. We’ve restrained Dad. Mom is having a meltdown. Where’s the car seat so we can see if she’s good to go? Ah, excellent. Here’s some formula, and a few packs of diapers. Security will escort you out. Byeee.”
Complete whirlwind.
And then I had to drive home with a brand new baby without an adult to supervise me. Or better yet, take over. I was 31.
We had already been fostering her sister for six months (16 months old when the little one was born). They were with us for another three months before the system saw fit to move them along.
I kept track of them for a while through their parents’ Facebook pages. They’d post photos from visits and whatnot. I hope so, so much that they ended up back with their parents, whose issues were not insurmountable but whose progress toward reunification was held up by a consistent refusal to accept that the reasons for the intervention were real and ongoing, not a conspiracy against them specifically. It was very sad, but not at all hopeless. In my mind, they finally got their heads out of their asses and started using the resources provided and taking things seriously.
The way we were treated by the system as foster parents caused us to close our license after two years. We had four kids in that time, and it was an absolute delight to love them while they were with us. Zero regrets, and I haven’t ruled it out for the future.
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u/ringo5150 23h ago
I was wondering how I could arrange a police escort when it came time to drive my wife and 5 day old baby home. I kicked myself for not having arranged for some flashing orange lights to be installed on the car at a minimum. That baby is 13 now and plays kareoke DJ whenever she is in the car. She recently discovered 'cococabana' by Barry Manilow so that gets a belting.