Our family grew to 5 children Thursday night.
Here is the lineup: almost 1 year, nearly 2 years, 3 years, 4 years and 5 years old. 5 children ages 5 and under.
“Are you insane???”
That’s the very first thing everyone has said to us.
Our reply: “There is a HUGE shortage of foster homes in our area willing to take in preschoolers. Christian families NEED to step up for the children in our community.”
Hopefully, some seeds have been planted for future foster families.
I have had a fantasy of having a large family. Now I’m seeing the reality of the chaos it brings. We are adjusting, making new tighter schedules, etc.
Our first few nights, bedtime was HELL-O! Two parents putting 5 children to bed in 3 different bedrooms DID NOT WORK. at. all.
The 2 older foster children are taking forever to get to sleep. One child (Firecracker) appears to have very serious sensory issues so bedtime is horrific for her. Adding heavy blankets, pillows and even a massage “tickle” mat didn’t seem to help her from having a meltdown in bed.
On Friday night, it was midnight before all were sleeping soundly and not roaming the house.
Yesterday, I had an epiphany…what if we didn’t worry about them having naps? And added a very physical activity like swimming or the bounce house?
Our current family -Baby Cupcake not shown
Although, there were still a couple of fatigue-related meltdowns, they were very short….so last night…SUCCESS!!!
Now if we can just keep the parents from having any fatigue-related meltdowns???
How about you??? What has been your biggest adjustments in adding foster children to your family overnight?
“So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued for doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up or quit.” ~Galatians 6:9 (The Message)
