So... on the 21st, we were told that the judge in the case had said that he would like to see the kids go home by the fourth of July. In September, he said by Christmas... but whatever. We had our monthly meeting last night with Gloria and we also got to meet Annie, our third FSC in eight and a half months. Gloria filled us in on the new plan, which is essentially a seven week reintegration plan with both parents. The plan is as follows:
Week 1 - Visits are unsupervised and bumped up to three hours per parent
Week 2 - Visits are five hours and take place at each parent's home
Week 3 - Visits are eight hours per parent
Week 4 - One overnight visit per parent
Week 5 - Two overnight visits per parent
Week 6 - Stay the week with one parent
Week 7 - Stay the week with the other parent
The plan starts now. As it is currently laid out, Leonard and Penny will be leaving us on or around May 3rd, as the last two weeks do not involve us at all. We are hoping that the longer visit days (the five and eight hours) can take place on the weekends, so as to avoid meltdowns at daycare and such. We are reasonably certain that the fairly strict schedule we have been instilling in them for the last eight months will be shot all to hell in a matter of days. At this point, we just hope they can hold it together long enough to make it to the actual transition. For two kids, who not only enjoy their sleep, but do it so well, going from getting twelve hours at night with a resting/napping period during the day, back to what we've been led to believe was no bedtime and no naps as a general rule, is going to be a huge mess and fairly nightmarish. We are going to provide a schedule that they kids have followed since coming to our house. There is a 95% chance that their mom follows it down to every detail. There is a 3% chance that their dad does the same... and that number may be generous.
Tonight, we begin the packing of the things. Hopefully Penny will be able to tell us which house some stuff came from, since both parents have sent a ton of toys and things.
Hi. My husband and I are in the process of becoming foster parents. I found your blog last week and I've enjoyed reading all of your entries. Our training is done and our home study was last week. We are waiting on our home study to be approved and think we will be licensed in a month or so. Thank you for sharing your story. Congrats on the baby boy that is coming soon.
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Thanks for reading and good luck with your foster care experience.
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