Foster Mom Adventures

Tonight was the open house at Samuel’s school.  Not only was it an open house, but also the science fair and an art show.  On top of all that, each fourth grade student had a mission to accomplish—to dissect an owl pellet.  If you are like me, you might be confused about what an owl [...]

If anyone ever doubts whether God answers prayers, I can tell you that He does!  He may not always answer them in the way that we want, and He may not always answer them in the timeframe we might desire, but He always answers them.  And when He answers them, it is good. I’ve been [...]

I’ve had some experienced moms tell me that some kids either act out at home and are perfect at school, or they act out at school while never having a problem at home.  I don’t know which of those scenarios I prefer, because in the end the parent has to deal with correcting the behavior [...]

So all mafia references aside, I was ready to go to the mattresses today after doing all of my research over the weekend on the policies and practices that Samuel’s afterschool program failed to follow, as they went directly to disciplinary referrals. While I fully acknowledge that Samuel has definitely made some mistakes and needs to improve, I went in armed with all my research on their policies—highlighted and tabbed for reference.

As you know, Samuel is playing basketball through Upward.  His team is the Hornets.  And his team lost their first two games in a row.  Now I know that it isn’t about winning.  Samuel and the Hornets have been graceful in defeat and we have been proud of the team regardless of the score.  But [...]

Today I picked Samuel up from his afterschool program and was greeted by his third disciplinary referral.  As I wrote last week, Samuel’s first infraction was when he repeatedly ignored the directions given by the staff.  The second incident happened on Wednesday, when he got into a shoving match with another boy.  And then there [...]

Each night before Samuel goes to bed, we say our prayers and then read aloud from Harry Potter (we’re still reading the first book, HP and the Sorcerer’s Stone).  And no, the irony of that isn’t lost on me. We read for approximately 30 minutes.  If we finish early, Samuel is allowed a little “free [...]

Samuel has been with me for one month now.  In some ways it seems that he only arrived yesterday and we’re just getting to know each other, while in other ways it seems that I have known him for so much longer than that.  We’ve already had a lot of shared experiences. I am happy [...]

My mother gave me a wonderful gift growing up.  She taught me that “nobody said life is fair.”  It used to drive me crazy (it still does), but now that I am older and a parent myself, I can see the value in the lesson.  My mom is right, life isn’t fair no matter how [...]

Then the picture shifted and I got a phone call from the director of his after school program this afternoon. It seems that Samuel was angry and disrespectful toward the staff of his program. He refused to follow directions, and he was asked not to return to the program until Thursday. Guess who now had to take off from work early tomorrow?