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Mama and Dada
Mama and Dada….These are two very special names. Some parents wait a very long time to have a little one finally call them Mommy and Daddy. These words represent the two people in this world that are suppose to love and care for you unconditionally. The two people whose goal in life should be to keep you safe. Now imagine you were 19 months old and not only did you have your birth mother and father but you also had not one, not two but three foster mother and fathers in a span of 6 months. Those two special names I mentioned earlier may start to lose their value. They…
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The Call . . .
It was my 30th birthday. We had spent the day relaxing, shopping and enjoying our family time. My phone rang around 3:30 in the afternoon. I answered, assuming it was my social worker calling to set up her monthly visit. “Hey Alyse. We are looking for an emergency placement for a little boy.” My heart started racing. I knew I had to refrain from blurting out “YES! Yes!! We will take him” I calmly said “ok, is he just coming into care?” I waited for a response, even though no matter what the answer was, it wasn’t going to change my burning desire to blurt out “when will he be…
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Guarded Hearts
Very shortly after our first placement arrived, we were head over heels. We picked up these two beautiful, blonde headed, blue eyed little girls. We were in charge of their well being. We fed them, clothed them, tucked them in at night. We had decided prior to accepting any placements that we would introduce ourselves as Alyse and Jeremy. So needless to say, we were shocked that immediately we were “mommy and daddy.” I had dreamt of being a mom since I was a little girl. In our hearts, they were ours. It was easy to forget the truth. Legally, they were not ours. They were in foster care. They had…
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Visit Days
Oh how this ordinary bag brings back a flood of emotions and memories. Not just for me, but for my children as well. It’s actually tucked away, out of sight, in hopes of avoiding a trigger. For some of my children visit days were filled with joy, junk food and playing. For some, it was days filled with disappointment and for others they were pure torture. Jeremy and I always try to show the positives of foster care. Rarely do we talk about the struggles that can accompany. Visit days just seemed appropriate to talk about today. It’s not something that’s discussed enough. For those of you that are unaware.…
