After a lovely Christmas vacation, it was back to a routine for us. The twins had another visitation scheduled with the previous caregivers on Friday, so I drove them to San Antonio that afternoon. The other two siblings arrived at the same time, so I asked the assistant bringing the children up to the visitation room if she needed help, and she acquiesced.
Either the child/ren or the parents (or in this case, family members) arrive earlier than the other for the visitations, get settled, then the other party is brought in. When we were settled, she asked me to stay with the children while she brought in the family members. This was the first time I had met them. We had a brief exchange until I walked back out to my car with a security guard. I spent an hour drinking tea at Starbucks and reading to pass the time.
When I arrived back at the office, the other two children had already left with their foster parents. The assistant was there to hand off the twins. She said that the family members had made the other foster parents very uncomfortable by loitering in the parking lot until they had picked up the children. The same protocol generally applies - one of the parties is supposed to leave first so there's no awkwardness or cause for anxiety on either part. They're not really supposed to know much personal information - if any - about the family providing foster care for the children.
I was honestly a little annoyed, but not upset or worried. There really isn't any danger at this point; if anything happened toward us, it completely would wreck the case for the family members getting the children back, and they realize that. We live more than forty-five minutes away in a different town, so the likelihood of being tracked down is not very high. We have had concerns about issues like this in the past with previous experiences, so we're alert but not anxious. It all comes with the territory of being a foster parent. We're not going to assume that any harm is meant for us, but assume the best - and trust in God for everything at all times.
Moving on...
Then, it was time for another sibling meeting! The last time we all met together, we planned to meet for a movie night on the first Saturday of the new year. We have a plan of meeting once a month for the three families and five siblings to be able to spend time together.
The foster family for the other set of two children had said that they have a movie room with a projector and a popcorn machine, so we were all looking forward to watching a movie together. We received an e-mail last week, unfortunately, saying that the projector was broken. We decided to meet at Chuck E. Cheese again instead.
We had also received news last week that Big Sister was moved to a new foster home. We were all given the new contact information, but the connections were made too late, and she was unable to attend with her new foster family.
I feel incredibly sad to hear of this disruption in her placement. From being removed from her birthmother, to living in the shelter for two months, to living in the first foster home for almost two months, to a new home... that's a whole lot of moving. We didn't hear the reason why she moved, whether it was her request or the first foster parents' request, or both. We hope to see her soon, not to ask questions and be nosy, but to make sure she's doing well.
My in-laws were here for the weekend, so they watched Miss A and Little Guy for us while we had our meeting. The twins were so excited during the whole drive to Chuck E. Cheese to see their siblings. They kept saying the names over and over again, as if they couldn't quite believe they were about to see them. I'm very happy we're doing these meetings, if just to see the light in their eyes when they see their siblings.
We had a nice chat with the other foster parents, as in the previous visit. We all wish we had slightly more information about the case, but are trying to remain positive about the future. They're nice people, and obviously love the kids very much.
Finishing pizza, ski ball, car rides, and juices, we said good-bye. We all look forward to the next meeting, to continue to foster the relationships these kids have, so they will thrive even while they're apart. Until next time!
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