Foster Care Update

We have had our foster son for almost four weeks now. (I'll call him R as I'm not sure I should publish his name.) He has really made a home in our hearts. His speech development is about 12 months behind, but he is rapidly adding vocabulary. When he first came to us, he could care less about books, and we were very surprised at how much he played by himself. Now he brings us books constantly, and he has learned that he really likes attention and demands a lot of it.

Our dogs have taken to him like a duck to water. He loves to throw the ball for them, and they get to clean up the snacks he drops. Murphy, our littlest dog, absolutely dotes on him. He will come and poke us to let us know R is awake from his nap. Murphy is eating better, too. R makes sure the other dogs give him his share.


Last weekend we thought we were going to have to take R back to his mother because of some holdups in the paperwork for his adoption. We weren't happy about that, as the situation described to us was not really the best. I can't in good conscience get into the problems, but there were problems. However, by Sunday things had been straightened out and the paperwork is starting to get done. In a week or two the agency will be able to try to match him up with a family, and he can begin his new life.

That will of course leave a hole in our hearts. We love this little guy immensely. When we thought he was going back into a difficult situation, we grieved. But it will make a lot of difference to know he's going to a good home with people who want him very much. Some family is going to get a great kid.

Since we started this we've had a lot of people tell us how wonderful we are for fostering him and helping him to get a new start on life. That is very nice to hear, but to be truthful we don't feel like we're making any great sacrifice. I certainly don't. My wife is bearing the lion's share of the workload. What I do know is that we are getting a lot of love and satisfaction in return. His smile is worth everything.

And I have memorized Go Dogs Go!