Nostalgia Pt. 2

Before you get to the "good" stuff (lol, though this one is very short comparatively), i thought i would just make a comment about the previous one. i've learned a lot since i wrote that, and one thing i've learned is that the "i picked you" analogy is too much to put on a child, because, instead of making them feel special as intended, it can make them feel as though they have to be perfect or they won't be wanted anymore. i would never want to put that on a child, so if i ever give them these letters, i'll either edit that out or try really hard to explain it to them first. i did mention "unconditional", but i don't know...

2 more days until we contact the state again to find out if they got the correct background check back, and to find out what happens now... Obviously my letter below didn't turn out to have an accurate timeline. :(



Friday, April 04, 2008

Dear Kiddo,

It’s been a week since my last letter, and I just thought I’d give you a quick update. Last weekend, your dad and I went to the bookstore and bought a lot of books about adoption. I know we will make mistakes, but at least we will have read a lot about it before we make them!

On Monday I called the Department of Children’s Services and asked about adoption. They are supposed to mail me out a big packet of information about being a foster parent today. I hope to have it this weekend so I can go through it with your dad. Even though we want to adopt you for keeps, there’s a requirement to be certified as a foster home before we can adopt. We’ll foster a child or children for six months before we can adopt. It’s possible that you were that first foster child and we may decide to keep you! Or maybe we’ll have to look a little harder to find you, but that’s okay, because we’re determined to find you. You are the child who was meant to be ours.

I have a confession to make. Sometimes it can be overwhelming to think of all of the children in foster care. The numbers are staggering! I’m so very sad that there’s so much hurt in this world, and that each and every one of those children feel the kind of pain that I wish I could shelter you from. I just have to hope and pray that we can make some small difference. I’m hoping we can begin to take our classes by this summer, and have our home study completed within 6 months from now. It’s good to have goals like that.

So Happy You Are Mine! (Shyam)
Mom