The Combo-Basket
An adoptive family adds more children to their family through the foster-to-adopt program
We entered the foster-to-adopt arena with the idea of mainly being a foster care home but willing to add one girl between the ages of 4 and 8 to our cozy family of four. Our daughters (both adopted) were 13 and 11 at the time and really wanted to be “big sisters.” We had always said we’d foster when the girls were old enough, so it seemed the time was right.
About 13 months ago, our social worker called with what then seemed like a completely crazy idea. She was looking for a legal risk home for a 10-month-old, a 22-month-old and 35-month-old (boy, girl, boy). A sibling group of three under 3. Now that’s crazy.
Yet, something just seemed right. So we said “yes” and within a week, they were all in our home. Dear Hubby was a little worried about being outnumbered by this big group of already bonded (to each other) kids. I was a little worried about how I would ever get a full night’s sleep again. I’d done enough fostering to know that little kids in strange beds don’t always do a lot of sleeping.
A little over a year later, these now full-fledged members of the Tischler clan are thriving and our fears, I’m happy to say, were unfounded. Because they were bonded to each other, they came into our home more secure than our one-at-a-time foster kids have. From the get-go, they all slept through the night, or most of it, anyway. The baby used to wake early (4:30 a.m.) but outgrew that within weeks. There are a lot of “Littles” in our house, but there are more “Bigs,” so it all works out; we had that math all wrong — we outnumber them! There are always enough laps to go around, and in the early days when they all needed feeding help, plenty of feeders, too.
As a young woman, I worked in a cafe that offered a lunchtime “combo basket,” and the sheriff in our town always told me that a burger just tastes better if you get the fries and cola, too. I think of our little 3-pack as our own special combo-basket; it just wouldn’t be as rich and sweet without all of them!
Photo Credit: Dreena T.
