Mom

I have been called mom, mommy, or mama a hundred times in the last week. None of them by my new foster child who cannot break the habit of calling me Miss Rainey. I wouldn't know what in the world she would call me besides Miss Rainey so that's fine with me.

Foster motherhood has been a HUGE adventure already in its early stages. So far in the last twenty seven hours or so we have shopped for groceries (much harder to do with a small child asking for everything she sees) and clothes shopping (much harder with a small child asking for everything she sees). Checking out with the groceries and food was hilarious when my foster daughter told/asked the cashier, "Do you know I live with a teacher?!? And don't even think about smoking in front of a say-anything-she-pleases seven year old child. When running an errand today she saw someone smoking, looked her square in the eye, and said, "SICK!"

Don't even think you can imagine how my perspective has changed towards the mothers of my students at school. It is all I can do to get the child fed, clothed, bathed, homework done, and Bible story read to her each day (and this is just day two...and there's just one of her). How do the moms with four, five, or even nine kids do it? They can't. First grade homework is easy mind you. My perspective on that has not changed. However, my perspective on the ease of getting easy homework done HAS changed. It is hard to get a little girl to concentrate on math facts when she knows there's a tea party set down the hall calling her name.

It is amazing how all the things you are accustomed to as a single person living alone can just vanish and you not even know they're gone. I haven't turned on the t.v. in more than two days and haven't missed it at all. I'm wondering how anyone with kids ever has time to feed them and still watch t.v. Perspective is almost everything in life and this, it is safe to say already, will have changed mine forever.

Forgive me for the lack of post on my fabulous and exciting NYC trip. I have a feeling I won't feel capable of a post like that for some time, especially if I want pictures to be involved.

I am fully aware that this is a scatterbrained post. I just don't have time to put my thoughts together any other way if I want to equip myself with enough sleep to stay ahead of the seven year old temporarily living with me. I hope two weeks from now I will have gained some brainpower back!