Where are you?

[Cindiloohoo]

I'm just curious where everyone is in their lives right now. I seem to be at a crossroads. I have raised everyone else's children for as long as i can remember. It started when I had 5 cousins and a sister born the same year, and then took childcare classes in high school...then married into two children, and THEN I help raise my niece too. I never had any of "my own" and never really let it bother me too much as i have been busy helping raise of outright raising kids since i was about 12. I THOUGHT I was almost done raising kids and was getting pretty comfortable with the idea of soon living with my DH, alone, just two of us, in about 3 more years. I liked the idea of "retirement" from that job. Then one night I got a phone call from a cousin asking me to foster her kids. At first I said no, then I thought about it, and discussed it with hubby, and the next thing I know we're in foster parenting class

Now we're done with classes and homestudy is coming up this coming week...and NOW I'm getting a bit nervous hehe. I love kids, even my little troublemaker, but she gets on my nerves often. Now we're taking in 3 more not even preteens.....I have a feeling my nerves have seen nothing yet

Some days I wonder why I want to do it, then I remember my own childhood and how I wished someone would have stepped in and stood up for us, and I remember why. Anyway, I have lately felt the need to ramble about it

It just made me wonder how many other folks are looking at huge changes coming up in your lives, and what those changes are, and what folks expectations are. I just expect more change

I do think these kids will be a blessing, it's just a BIG change and totally upset my 5 year plan that I was thinking about planning within the next 5 years or so

 

[Baymule]

God sends the neediest to those who have the love in their heart that knows no bounds. That is why you are taking on more kids at this point in your life. May God bless you always.

 

[fuzziebutt]

You are an example to some of us that have empty homes. However, I am also an example. Our kids are grown and gone, and we love it! They all take care of their own kids, and they live too far away to babysit, so our lives are our own. We go to visit s when we want to, or we go to the Gulf of Mexico when we want to. I am finally in the point in my live that if we want to go to Nashville for a few days, we go. Or anywhere we want to go. Or stay home quiet without them all piling in on us. We love it!

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Well RUB it in!!!

That is what I was looking forward to, but we travelled alot with the kids too. In fact, we were hardly ever home. We homeschooled then and hit the road with DH on his jobs out of town. Now we're homebound with poultry and goats anyway so it doesn't matter

Sounds like you all are in a good place

I'm just interested in where everyone else is. I know alot of grandparents are raising grandbabies today, and lots are raising kids as a single parent while their spouse is overseas. Some folks are at the point they have lost their significant other. Life is just strange sometimes how we think we will be somewhere at certain points in life and then it isn't even close to what we thought when we get there. I think it's interesting

 

[Baymule]

My DH and I are looking at retirement soon. Our grand daughter is 4 and we love to get her for the weekend and spoil her rotten.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Quote:

Maybe one day I can join ya

I can't complain about where I am at in life though, my work is here at home, and it's what I like to do anyway...messing with animals and cooking from scratch since we all have food allergies. I guess for retirement to feel like retirement to me I'd have to not have a bunch of kids running circles around me! So I'm about halfway there anyway

 

[Lothiriel]

Quote:
I'm apparently at the foot of a mountain. Young adult, out of school, trying to get a job, trying to polish up and embellish my housekeeping instincts while simultaneously submitting to my mother's... Basically trying to climb the mountain. Sometimes it's hard and I have to try harder; sometimes there's a stretch of easy ground and I can take a breather and enjoy my surroundings. Last week it was the former, this week it's been the latter. Life's quirky like that.

 

[debilorrah]

I am past the impasse. Sara has guardianship of Robert, and we have three brand new grandbabies. We love living by ourselves. Congrats on the three newcomers for you!!!! You will make a very big difference in their quality of life.

 

[SourRoses]

Sounds to me like this is what you have been called to do... sorry!

But there is a reason God has been sending the little ones to you, so take heart and be flattered (and maybe brace up for more still

)

Where I'm at..... bio clock has finally started to tick ( for the longest while it seemed to not be functioning at all

).... and it's annoying! It's not agreeing with my mindset at ALL!
I have plenty of time.... but it causes me to oggle and slobber over every last baby item I see in the stores.... and online

I tell it, theres still many things on my list to see done and prepared, before kids, or marriage even

It's fustrating! Stupid premature motherly instincts.

That's OK though... I have enough dear animals to mother around... sometimes I mother my mother around... (interject feeling sorry for dear mother here, I tried to give her a bedtime the other night

)

Then theres this re-occuring dream I keep having.... where I'm surrounded by many packages of different brands of diapers, and in the dream, I'm experimenting with them, to see which have the best sticky tabs. Undoing them and redoing them.. wondering if they actually undo and redo. Then I wake up with the urge to run out and buy all those packages of diapers and get a final answer to this IMPORTANT question.

The bigger part of my mind does not agree that this diaper hunt is such a neccessity at ALL.


Otherwise... life is pretty hunky dory. Had a very nice ending to this year, have lots of loving critters to enjoy, plans and decisions to make, and everything is looking great for next year!

 

[BHep]

Quote:
X2.. could not have said this better.

I am also a foster parent. I have 3 beautiful adopted children. I took a 22 month break after fostering 50 something children and now have a 12 year old foster son added to the mix.

Adjustments are in the works, but I know the outcome is so rewarding.

Best of luck....