Week 4+

Well, I think we've finally reached a point where there are no more BIG events happening so that the kiddos can finally settle into a somewhat normal routine. The Monday after they moved in with us, Vera and Ricky started their new school, which obviously caused a bit of anxiety for both of them. They had the chance to meet their teachers before the first day, and while Ricky seemed open to the change, Vera was much more on the shy side. Her teacher introduced her to some of her future classmates, but she proceeded to hide behind me in a playful act of awkwardness.

So, we were most worried about her when the day for them to start came. On Monday, Jill and I both went with them to school, she taking charge of Vera, and Ricky with me. We were early, so I was able to hang out with him as we perused the classroom...it wasn't until the bell rang and the class started filing in that I noticed him getting a bit apprehensive. But I tried to keep it casual, chatting with some of the kids, particularly a little boy with a 6-inch mohawk, breaking the ice a bit. And Ricky talks about "the mohawk kid" just about everyday since as they have kinda/sort of become "buds." Jill was done with her duty earlier than I (she snuck out of Vera's class when everything seemed cool), and met up with me in Ricky's class, making our break shortly thereafter. I think we were feeling just as much anxiety as the kids (and all of my horrible memories of my "first days" came flooding back), so it was hard to say goodbye. But...

They did great! Ricky's made an excellent transition (his teacher claims he's a math whiz), and Vera's teacher has only good things to say about her. Getting her to do her homework for the first couple of days was tough, but other than that, she's been doing great.

And then the following week, they started taking the bus as it worked better with Jill and I's work schedules. So started another round of anxiety...but, once again, the kids have done great with the change. They tend to sit together on the bus, but Vera has branched out a bit when she rides the bus home without Ricky (he's only in class a half day). A boy who lives three doors down from us is in her class, and the two of them seem to get along fine (despite the fact that boys are kind of yucky).

We've been trying to get the older kid's involved with more activities, most specifically Ricky, who's talent with baseball is too natural to just ignore. So, both Jill and I have been practicing ball with him, working on his hitting and catching, which has improved despite my utter lack of athleticism (yet, I get totally excited taking part in his enthusiasm). We're going to sign him up with a T-ball team that starts up this summer.

Vera, on the other hand, doesn't express too much interest in sports, even though I think it would be a great motivator for her. We're feeling it out (and will probably get her signed up with Girl Scouts after the summer). But...she's totally a natural at rockin' out. I pulled out some of my guitars the other night, and even though her playmanship was less than exceptable (ha ha), she definitely shows the spirit, and it was riot to watch her dancing around, making songs up on the spot. Have to keep an eye on that for the future...

I started working from home on Tuesdays last week, which is kind of a challenge juggling work with childsitting, but I recently acquired a laptop, so becoming more mobile will help tremendously. Jill went back to work part-time, so she now takes Ana (Rayana) with her to work most days. It was difficult for her to share "Mom" with other kids, but I think she immensely enjoys having new playmates.

The progress has it's ups and downs, with the good days far outweighing the bad ones. We seem to do the best around the weekends as there is less pressure for them (and us). And this past weekend we had Easter to celebrate, which the kids enjoyed (holidays can be tough for the children, but I think we passed our first challenge). We got together with Jill's family for a cook-out/egg hunt/and other kid related activities...which was kind of insane because of the number of people (not only were we at our own kid's beck and call, but all of the other kids who are so used to relying on us were expecting the same...it was hard to say "no"). Overall, a very successful holiday adventure.

That's about it for this posting. Stay tuned.

...a quick note: we added a few links to the right that might answer questions and/or inspire anyone with interest in adoption or foster care. Enjoy.