Receiving Respite

Respite care. We've provided it, and now we're getting to see what life is like on the other side. Amos and I are attending a foster care/adoption conference this weekend. We registered for the conference two months ago, about three weeks before the girls came. Until a week ago, we had accepted that we wouldn't be able to attend, but one last effort led to another, and we found ourselves in the receiving end of respite care. We were in licensing classes with the family, and we've sent a few facebook messages back and forth recently. I'm so thankful to have had those opportunities to get to know them. I feel very comfortable leaving our girls with them.

We delivered a crib on Tuesday evening to the home where the girls will stay and gave them a chance to play a bit. Hopefully that will make the drop off go smoother. At least they won't be dropped on a complete stranger's doorstep. Since Tuesday, Big Sister has been asking nonstop if we can go to "Her" house now.

One hard part of respite is splitting the kids. I hate that we're sending the bios to my mom's and the girls somewhere else. We might have decided to split the kids between houses anyway (because who wants to ask someone to keep your FIVE kids overnight), but separating them into "old" and "new" makes me crazy.

All the work it took to arrange child care, pack bags for three different destinations, and prepare the kids has left me wondering if it's worth it. Then I think of Amos and how much I miss him. I know that we are both craving time to reconnect and take a deep breath. Sadly, it is all too easy to forget about each other in the crowd of kids and the endlessly busy schedules. I know that those first moments after the last goodbye will be worth all the hoops we've jumped through. Here's to 24 hours of adult interaction!