So first: Sorry, for not entertaining you sooner! ;)
But I really couldn´t.
I found myself sitting infront of my computer yesterday and couldn´t form one word in my head.
I had tons of good ideas what to post about, but couldn´t get myself to start.
For some reason I didn´t want to.
And then I noticed that I had to give myself some time to just BE.
Those last two and a half weeks have been crazy and I haven´t shared one word about it on FACEBOOK, TWITTER or this blog because I needed time to get used to the new situation and to verbalize my feelings.
As some of you might know Photography is not what I studied, I actually studied Social Work (way back in the day, when I was waaaay younger... Hahaha).
The vision for my life when I was 19 included renting or buying a big house in South Africa so I could create a home for street children. The house would have had lots of bedrooms, a big kitchen and dining room and a big sort of hall, where there could be school in the morning and homework and playtime in the afternoon.
Although I am sure that God planted this in my heart he led us to stay in Germany and over the years I sort of forgot about the details of that dream I once had.
But one thing I didn´t forget: I wanted to create a home for children that were not my own. Talking to Danny about that didn´t exactly leave me with the result I had in mind as he is more of a thinker and doesn´t usually decide on things spontaneously (something we´re VERY different at!). But after a while he warmed up to the idea of opening our house for other kids and we started the process with the Jugendamt to become short term foster parents (meaning the kids usually stay only up to 4 months). This process took about three months but since the middle of February we have a cute little 18 month old girl staying with us!
Now, we have been prepared for a lot but when it came to putting things into practice it was still a whole lot different than the stories we have heard.
For once I figuered that I have to watch out for my own kids not to get jealous or to feel left out since there is another person just marching right through their territory claimed what isn´t hers.
Now it turned out that the little one is the jealous one throwing tantrums whenever my daughter crawls unto my lap and trying to bite and pinch my son when he wants to play with her.
I totally get where she is coming from and that there is a lot of frustration built up in her and that truly makes me feel sorry for her. But she still has to learn that biting, pushing and pinching doesn´t solve anything.
So for the last two and a half weeks (and probably going on for a while) I was busy protecting my children from the tantrums of an 18 month old that we´re still getting to know and at the same time trying to make them understand her and her understand that this isn´t the way we roll.
So the title of this post really sums it up quite well! :D
I am glad that she is here though, no doubt about that! She definitely opened our bubble of just being the four of us and is teaching us to practice patience and loving your neighbor!
Here´s a picture that Danny took last year of my daughter Noa and me and that I recently discovered!
Awww, she is so cute man! :D
EDIT:
For reasons of data protection I can´t post pictures of our foster child online, but just so you´re getting an idea I found one where she´s hiding behind the curtain. :p
