In order to adopt through the foster care system, potential adoptive/foster parents have to go through a series of classes, home visits, background checks and piles of paperwork. You have to get a physical, be updated on your vaccinations and make some changes to your house. All of it is worth every moment you have with your children when they come to your home, but it is stressful none the less.
My husband and I went through our classes with a great group of people. If it weren't for them, I don't know that I would have made it through. See, I went into the classes knowing everything. I mean, I have a degree in Social Work, for crying out loud. Plus, I had wanted to be a parent for so long, that I was READY. I'd also been parenting all of my friends children for years. Ok, actually I parented those children from afar. On rare occasions I would babysit, but I just KNEW how to fix everyone's issues with their children.
Your kids won't go to bed??? I have an answer for that.
Your kids are picky eaters??? I have an answer for that too.
Your teenager won't listen??? Well, good thing I'm here to fix that for you.
Um.....folks.....I am sure you have all figured it out by now, I know nothing. Well not NOTHING, {yes, I know that's a double negative}; I could tell you about any stage of development you wanted to know about; cognitive, emotional, physical or social. But book knowledge did not prepare me enough for the practical knowledge that a person needs to be a parent.
Thankfully, this epiphany occurred in class; before the Great Lord blessed us with any children that required our care. I remember sitting there and all of a sudden, I teared up..... I stated a bit more loudly than I intended {this always happens to me} "But, we don't even have SOCKS!!"
Now before you judge, I know many moms who have had a similar experience at some time during their pregnancies. They were excited, but at some point that "HOLY CRAP WE ARE REALLY DOING THIS" kicks in. For me, it manifested in socks. As everyone in the room looked at me, some giggling, some thinking I was crazy, I went on to explain that my fear was not just because of the socks but because we didn't know what SIZE of socks to get. Again, stay with me. I know this sounds crazy, but for parents who are giving birth to their children, it is safe to say that you are going to buy new born socks. With a few exceptions of gigantic babies, you aren't going to buy socks from the part of the store that you would for your 10 year old. My issue was, I may VERY WELL need to buy socks for a 10 year old. Or 5 year old. Or 7 month old......DEEP BREATHS...DEEP BREATHS... I'm getting anxious just thinking about it.
See the Good Lord saw fit to make me a planner. Well when he did so, I found it necessary to take things into my own hands. Often. Too often. So this meant that I needed {honestly I still do most of the time} to have my little plan in place. Down to every detail. Well for those of you who have ever adopted or are in the middle of adopting, you know that planning too many details ain't gonna make them so.
So there I sat, in my class, knowing that we were about to be parents, worried about socks.
Then I was reminded, Walmart is open 24/7. And guess what...They sell socks. All different kinds of socks. In all different sizes and colors. Our child's feet would not be cold or frostbitten because I didn't have the right socks.
I also had a sweet lady in my class that brought me a huge gift bag of socks the next class. There were several pair, in all different sizes.
We had the socks...........We were ready...............
Subscribe to my blog and YouTube channel!
Blog: www.reddersideofpink.blogspot.com
Instagram: Reddersideofpink
YouTube: Kari Ann Smith
Facebook: Redder Side Of Pink
Twitter: @Rsideofpink
