Foster Memories Friday - Beth

The next foster placement we took was a little different than the rest.  We heard through family that our niece (whom we don't know well) had her daughter placed into foster care.  We contacted the child's worker and asked to be considered for placement of Beth.  We ended up having to pull the "we know what we're doing and we are relatives" card when the worker resisted moving her to us.

Beth was 10 months old when she moved to us.  We tried to settle her into our family but Beth turned out to be one of the hardest kiddos that we fostered.  She would scream at the top of her lungs constantly, never willing to settle or be comforted.  On top of (or because of ) this...I'm not really sure which...I was never able to form a bond with Beth.  I loved her and treated her the same as my girls but I just never got to the point that she was "mine".  The case was complicated and we found that us being "family" made it even harder.  The birthparents felt that we would give special treatment and not go by the rules for them and we weren't willing to do that which caused tension.

Birthmom had another baby about 6 months into us having Beth.  Birthmom got to take that baby home from the hospital with her.  It was looking more and more like Beth would be going home (we had started unsupervised visits) when birthmom started failing drug tests again.

After about seven months of Beth being with us we made the decision to have her moved to another foster home.  It was a very hard decision for our family but it really was the best for everyone involved. 

After Beth left us we heard that the new baby was also taken and placed into the same foster home.  Then they were both moved to a grandma before eventually returning home to mom and dad.  Beth now has 4 or 5 siblings.  Beth is now 5 1/2 years old.  I saw her in a store recently and she is beautiful.