Beth & Andy

Geri Pettitt, Beth's Mother

" While I am a parent to Beth Pettitt and have known her husband, Andy Wubbels, for over 10 years, I have spent most of my professional life working with families to create good outcomes for families and their children. I am trained as an elementary educator and worked closely with parents throughout my teaching career. I also worked for 21 years as the Parent Coordinator of the Parent Educator Partnership Program covering 33 local school districts. The program existed to promote, facilitate and assist with building partnerships between parents and educators for the purpose of better outcomes for their children and students. I'm writing to support Beth and Andy in their interests in growing their family through adoption. Having watched them over the past four years raising their daughter, June, while also taking in foster children, I have seen the type of parents they are. To observe them parent is to witness the qualities they bring to raising children in a loving and caring family environment. Their delight in children is obvious. They both have great instincts for providing structure and discipline while also giving children room for choice making and autonomy. Above all, they know how to make sure children know they are loved and secure. They do a wonderful job of interacting and communicating with children, meeting the child where s/he is at, listening, empathizing, affirming, instilling calm, and then problem solving together. Both Beth and Andy are very creative parents - I've watched with amazement at how they use that creativity to provide fun, teach skills, generate responsibility, set parameters and bring out creativity in the children. June is great testament to all of that. I've seen that same approach and impact with their foster children. They did a super job of helping June and the foster siblings adjust, working to meet each one’s needs with patience and respect, involving the children in working out conflicts. They do a wonderful job teaching children how to compromise. Watching Beth and Andy interact with their nieces and nephews gives further evidence of their abilities. They know how to build children's self-esteem through their positive reinforcement and praise while at the same time having a good sense of how to challenge children in a way that helps them discover their own capabilities and potential. Sharing the responsibilities of parenting is another attribute Beth and Andy bring to their family-building. I've seen them instill that in June, giving her age appropriate "family jobs". The greatest compliment I can give Beth and Andy is that I'd have no hesitation with placing a child of my own in their care. I'd do so knowing my child was going to receive a home like one I'd want my child to have. "