Well, its official, Ben will be joining us in about two weeks. I just couldn’t see bringing him home with me on Tuesday, as crazy as things are right now. I need to be able to help him integrate with 3 other dogs without the added bonus of Christmas chaos and a houseful of extra people. But he sure is a cutie! And my husband knows it is not a bad idea to scratch my itch with a dog instead of another child…


But there certainly are other kids out there moving around over the holidays. I heard a really pathetic story from my cousin in Illinois. When I lived there, I didn’t get deeply involved with the politics or policies of the state, but I saw enough to know they were not what I would call “in the front line” of changing policy or kid-friendly decisions. That feeling was reinforced when I learned from my cousin about two kids on her caseload who, after ten years in the same foster home, were just moved. Why, you might ask, would two teenage girls have been in the same placement for ten years and retained foster care status? A very good question, one without any apparently good answer. How the heck did they get around the ASFA regulations? Apparently, this foster mom has been needing help for quite some time but not asking for it, although I get the feeling the state had some inkling all was not well… but the kids hit the teen years, mom was burned out, dad wasn’t helping much, and things fell apart. Jeezzz, what is wrong with this picture? How can we have this happening in this day and age? Apparently the girls are about to blow out of their next placement as well....


I am running around with an impossible list of things to accomplish in the next couple of weeks, so I am giving notice that I will be intermittently posting until after the first of the year. I know you all are as busy as I am… so I hope you understand. I won’t be as incognito as I was when I was sick and smack in the middle of the move… but I am totally buried!

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