There was court for J Boy yesterday, and the judge ordered for him to be an in-home services case, which meant that he could go home as long as the home walk-through went well. The walk-though was today and everything checked out. J Boy left this afternoon. DCS will be providing his parents with services and support to make sure he stays safe. It's crazy how short a time he was in our home. But not really; uncertainty is certain in the life of foster care.
What's more crazy is that we received a call last night for another placement (as it was fairly certain that J Boy was leaving today). It was for a 1 year old boy. They told us they had already found a home willing to take his 3 year old sister, but if we were willing to take them both, that'd be great. After a short discussion, Matt and I agreed to take them both. They were coming from an hour away, so we had time to change sheets, move beds, lower the crib, wash dishes, and such to prepare for their arrival late at night.
To our surprise, the 3 year old was a BOY, not a girl like we were expecting. This posed a problem as we are only supposed to have 2 kids in each room. So we had to move the toddler bed back out of Taz's room into our room and move Ethan into it. Then the 3 year old (Chip) took Ethan's bed and the 1 year old (Smallz) had the crib. Oh, and J Boy was in a pack and play already in our room, so thankfully he didn't have to be moved. It worked out fine since Ethan always comes into our room in the middle of the night anyways. He wasn't upset at all to wake up and find himself in our room and new kids in his.
It was a bit crazy at times today adjusting to the 2 new arrivals and taking care of J Boy. I'll admit that I panicked a little as the time for the home walk-through neared; I worried that things wouldn't check out and that they would tell me that J-Boy wasn't leaving afterall. Thankfully, that didn't happen (not that I wanted him to leave, it's just that with the new kiddos here, there was no way I could handle all of them for long).
Ethan enjoyed playing with Chip and wasn't too annoyed by Smallz. They're both pretty well behaved boys. They are sleeping pretty well considering that they're so new here. Eating, I think, will be the biggest challenge, especially for Chip, as he is a VERY picky eater. All the picky kids we've had so far could at least sometimes be persuaded/bribed by a promise of a favorite snack after eating their meal. Not so with Chip. Even Mac-n-cheese and pizza was a challenge. He wanted apple jacks all day long. Utensils also seem to be a foreign object to both boys. The other challenge, also with Chip is that he is not at all toilet trained (he'll be 4 next month). He'll be the 4th kid I've had the "privilege" of training. Though I don't plan on tackling this one anytime soon.
Well, here's hoping things are finally going to settle down now.
Four kids: Taz (10), Ethan (4), Chip (3), Smallz (1)
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