There is really only one word to describe today’s visit – difficult.  We sometimes find ourselves in an awkward parenting situation.  We know we are the parents of these boys, but since we haven’t been the primary caregivers in their life we don’t always feel the freedom to speak up, especially when we are in their foster home and the kids need to honor those house rules.

The boys have come a long way in responding positively to our correction and guidance, but today we landed in an awkward moment when Foster Nanny disciplined one of the boys for something we didn’t think was a big deal.  I suspect the boys feel confused by the difference between our house rules and the foster home rules.  I keep telling myself it’s only one more week…

We went to the outdoor Ridgeway Christmas event which is not an event I’ll be returning to next year.  We waited an hour and a half for a five-minute horse and buggy ride, the only activity we participated in. Again, since we were tagging along with the foster household we didn’t feel ditching the event and finding something more engaging for the kids to do would be polite.  By the time the buggy ride was finished all our kids had expressed frustration and tears over the long wait.  We could hardly blame them when we felt much the same.

I feel overwhelmed with the thought of another whole week of dragging all the kids back and forth everyday between our homes.  What they all really needed today was a quiet day in, a long afternoon nap, and a snuggle with mom and dad.  But those days are sure to come.

Both boys had crying fits when they understood we were taking them back to Nanny’s after such a short visit today.  I wish there was a way to speed up the process of moving them into our home, but in reality two weeks is quite quick.  I keep reminding myself to take it one day at a time.  Kaitlyn had her own crying fit on the drive home venting her frustration over the Christmas event that was nothing like she expected it to be.

Currently Katie is sleeping (at 4:42 in the afternoon!). We will probably pay for that later tonight but she really needed to rest.  We normally lead a fairly slow-paced and quiet life and this past week has exhausted her.  Tomorrow her Sunday school class performs in church and we may be sneaking out immediately afterwards to give her some downtime before we hit the road again for tomorrow’s visit.  Six days left and counting…