Keeping everyone safe

Before Mark arrived, Husband (vehemently) and I (reluctantly) agreed, based on the circumstances around his entering our home, that we wanted to have some security at night.  We don’t have an electronic alarm, so we sort of decided to, well… lock his door from the outside after he was asleep.  I’m so embarrassed to admit that.  I bet it’s technically against some foster parent policy we agreed to, and I know it’s not good for a kid to realize in the middle of the night that they can’t get out of their room.

We weren’t going to tell him it was locked; we were just going to tell him if he needed to use the bathroom in the middle of the night to knock on the door and we’d come open it.  I was also going to set up a monitor, so I could hear him (the bed he’s in is pretty squeaky.)

So that was all before he arrived.  Once he got here, we realized he’s a big kitten.  Doesn’t mean he won’t perp ever, but he just didn’t strike me as the type to sneak out of his bed at night.  That, plus our evening activities which kept us out until after bedtime, meant we ended up not putting a lock on the door.

Instead, I put some of our noisiest baby toys in front of his doorway.  And they worked: I did wake up when he went to the bathroom!  I think I’ll keep them there for the next several days until we get a good handle on what exactly he’s been through.

Hello Nikki and Mark

After getting the call this morning, I spent most of the day arranging beds and vacuuming.  You know, ’cause foster kids will totally judge me on the dustbunnies in the corner.  Anyway, after our problems with Poet, we decided right away to put Mark in his own room.  Junior will be in another, and the girls will have the big room.

Late in the afternoon (actually, it was dinner time) Nikki and Mark finally arrived.  They ran in the house as soon as I opened the door, threw their coats on the floor, and ran around looking for things to play with.  Not too many adjustment issues here!  Apparently, the worker spent most of the car ride telling them how there are kids at our house, and they were really looking forward to that.  So right off the bat, Daughter and Nikki became ‘best friends’ (their words, not mine) and Mark and Junior set up a train track and raced cars.

I’ve learned a little more about their past: drug involvement by their parents.  They spent the summer with relatives, but there were allegations of sexual abuse, so CPS took them out of the home.  So now they are here (and their older sister is in another nearby home.)

They are both polite and well-mannered so far.  They ate well, played well, and Mark really seems to want to help out with the younger kids.  I know, I know, after what I just mentioned above…well, I’ve kept him in my line of sight since he arrived, and I will keep doing that for, well, a long time I suppose.  He will be getting counseling, but first he needs to be interviewed by a child advocacy center, and I have no clue how long that could take to set up.

Both kids have at least grade level reading abilities, and they both seem to enjoy reading.  Hallelujah!  They’ll fit right in.  They like to talk, and they seemed open to talking about their feelings about being here.  Mark admitted missing his mom and dad and his other relatives, but he hasn’t appeared too anxious yet.  Nikki admitted to being sad, but then started giving me lots of hugs and telling me she loved me, so I think she’s mostly just confused.  They both fell asleep pretty easily, although Nikki REALLY wanted to sleep in my bed, or at least with Daughter.  I felt so bad saying no!

They both also want to go back to school (again, hallelujah!) but since tomorrow is the last day before break, I told them they won’t be able to start right now.  So it will be a busy week for me next week: all five kids home all day, and one I need to keep an eye on at all times.

But really, it’s all good.  Nikki and Mark, just like all our other kids so far, are really cool and I like them a lot!