Respite is upon us

Respite: (n) A short period of rest or relief from something difficult or unpleasant.

That is the Oxford English Dictionary's definition of "respite." In the world of Foster/Adoption it means "somebody else watch my foster kids for me because I have to go out of town for the weekend and they can't go with me." Amanda and I are the "somebody else" and this time its not for the weekend, its for 3 weeks. So far, over the past week that we have had these guys I have yet to see any resemblance of what those twits in Oxford defined as respite. No short, no rest, no relief. These kiddos have one speed. 

Now, please let me clarify that I am not meaning this as a complaint, only a fact of record. Having these two kiddos in our house has been a truly great experience. They don't whine (too much), they don't cry when they don't get their way (very rarely), they don't hit or scream or threaten to stab me in the middle of the night with scissors because I wouldn't let them have another taquito. They are really good kids. My life has become ridiculously regimented, my Mr. Mom mode has gone into overdrive. My schedule has been completely rearranged. I've cooked every single night. I've toted a girly looking bag around filled with snacks, water, iPads and coloring books. I've gone to parks and playgrounds, pushed kids on swings, constantly said "did you wash you hands?", or said "I didn't hear the toilet flush." I've listened to Justin Timberlake exclaim he "Can't Stop the Feeling" at least 5 times a day. I've made a pallet on the living room floor and watched Hocus Pocus while we ate Pizza and Ice Cream. I've walked the fine line between concern and paranoia. I've gone to bed before 10. I've snuck cookies while nobody was looking to make sure it didn't turn into a national incident. I've given high fives and hugs. I've threatened consequences by the time I've counted to three.

It's been so worth it.

It started out kinda crazy. The kiddos are bus riders and usually just ride the bus home, but since they aren't going home and since neither Amanda nor I can get them when school is out, Helping Hand Home arranged for them to be picked up and go to day care until Amanda could leave and get them. So, last Friday they were supposed to get on the day care van, not the bus, and then Amanda was supposed to pick them. But the day care said "we aren't supposed to pick any new kids up today" and so the 6 year old got left at school and for some reason the 4 year old got put on the bus to go to his house, only there wasn't going to be anybody there to pick him up. I got a call from the school saying "Houston, we have a problem", but I couldn't just go to the bus stop to take him because I wasn't on the list. So, protocol dictated that if there is no guardian to receive the child then the bus is supposed to return the child to the school...but that didn't happen. The bus driver just let the 4 year old walk home by himself. So I went up to the school to get the 6yr old while the staff panicked to find the 4 yr old. The principal and counselor hopped in a car, hauled it to his bus stop and started yelling "Lassie, come home!" Luckily, he's a good kid, so he walked home, rang the door bell and waited for somebody to answer the door. For 15 minutes. The counselor found him, called me to allow him in her car, and they drove him back so we could have a nice traumatized reunion. Mind you, at this point in time, these kids have only seen me once in their lives, so this was probably not the best way to start things off. But it also goes to show how good these kids are because there was no fight, not trauma, no anything. We all just got in the truck, drove home, then went and ate Mexican Food. Honestly, watching them inhale chips and salsa was probably the moment when we knew that this was going to be ok.

And I think that's what the whole point of this respite exercise is: it is going to be OK.