Foster Child #1

It's been a while since I've posted on my blog. It's not that I haven't done anything with purpose, It's just that I have done more of the same things that I've blogged about already. And then...

I got a call from a resource worker at Family and Children's Services. A set of foster parents wanted an adult weekend at their trailer park and were looking for care for their three foster children. I was asked to take the 16 year old girl Kirsten and was happy that I was available.

I spoke with the foster mom on the phone in advance to learn about this girl. I arranged to pick up Kirsten on a Saturday morning. She was quiet and shy, understandably so. I was a complete stranger to her and she had no idea what to expect over the weekend.

She was concerned that she wouldn't like what I would feed her so I decided to take her grocery shopping with me and give her some choices.

We got to my house and I showed her to her room. She would be the first person to sleep in it since it had been repainted, carpeted, and freshly decorated. She unpacked her belongings while I unpacked the groceries.

After lunch we went to the Buskers Carnival in Uptown Waterloo. We saw several acts but I didn't get the impression she was into it. We got home, had supper, and she basically just chilled in her room until bedtime.

There was no schedule for Sunday so I let her sleep as late as she wanted. When she first woke up she just watched TV in her room. I told her just to come down whenever she was ready for breakfast.

You never saw a happier girl than when Kirsten came down the steps a little later. Waking up in her own time in a quiet room was an extreme contrast to waking up to fighting between the two younger foster girls she regularly shares a room with. Her regular foster home consists of six young people and two adults so being in a house with only one other person is very different. While eating toasted waffles for breakfast, she was much more talkative than the day before.

Kirsten brought a scrapbooking project with her so after breakfast I cleared a space for her to work in my scrapbooking room. She actually completed the album she was creating as a gift. I finished a couple of odd projects myself before preparing lunch.

My first foster child had a bit more time to herself in her own room before packing up and going back home to her regular foster parents. There wasn't any feedback from Kirsten but I got the impression that for her it was like staying at a B&B.

I took a photo of Kirsten before taking her back home but can't share it for privacy reasons. Someday I will create an album of all the children who have come to stay at my home.