The First Day

Dave and I had been licensed foster parents for three weeks. I was panicking at every phone call I received. I hesitated to make any plans in case I got "the call." I had backup plans for everything going on in my life, including vacations. On Thursday, October 24th at around 3:00 I got a phone call about two sisters ages 8 and 2. They were going to be removed from their home that evening and it was possible that they were going to be taken to their grandmother's. We were asked to be backup if that didn't work out. I said "yes" without consulting Dave. Oops. Thankfully, when I called and told him about the girls, he said, "you know what my answer is." He came home early from work and set up a toddler bed, enlisting the help of our kind friend Chad. I arranged furniture in the bedrooms and put out toys for them to play with. I contacted my backup substitute for the ESL class I was scheduled to teach that night. Dave went to his choir practice. At around 5:00 I got a phone call from the caseworker telling me that she was on her way to my home with the girls. There was no mention of the grandmother. I called Dave and he signed in at the choir practice and then left. 

B, the 8-year-old, was still crying when she arrived. T, the two-year-old, went straight for the toys I had laid out and was as pleasant as could be. I brought B a glass of water and a box of tissues and she calmed down pretty quickly. The caseworker said she'd check in the following day and then left. I showed the girls their rooms and introduced them to Kira. We played with play doh until Dave came home. We had macaroni and cheese for dinner and then I took the girls shopping while Dave finished dealing with the toddler bed.

The girls hadn't brought anything with them besides a small bag of T's toys. T wasn't even wearing shoes. We spent a couple of hours at the store buying diapers, shoes, bedding, underwear, and pajamas. Thankfully B recalled what size diaper T wore because I had no idea how to select diapers and T's was quite full by this point. B loved having me take pictures of her modeling clothes in the dressing room. T loved running around the store with my phone in her hands. 

As we drove home T called me "Mommy." B told me that she calls a lot of people that. B wondered where her mother was and told me a little about being taken away from her that day. 

B went to sleep on her own, excited about her new One Direction bedspread and her own room. When she lived with her mother she had slept on the couch. I had no idea how to get a toddler to fall asleep. I let T play with some cups on my lap until she fell asleep at almost 11:00.