Lessons I've Learned During the Last 7 Weeks as a Foster Mom

1.  Night time snuggles are so precious.  There is no better feeling than kissing a sweet baby, laying her down, retucking in a sweet toddler and then climbing into bed with my soundly-sleeping hubs.  Hearing the dogs snore and knowing my little family is warm, clean, not hungry and resting well is one of the most fulfilling feelings I’ve known.

2.  Kids are super impatient.  Especially babies.

3.  When you have kids, it doesn’t matter how badly you want to press pause.  You have no choice but to deal with the matter at hand-and now because, well…see #2

4.  My husband’s crinkly-eyed smile is one of my favorite sights, but seeing how much more that smile sparkles when the kids provoke him is even more enchanting.

5.  Living with a two year old who struggles verbally and has very strong opinions is essentially the same as living with your Cantonese-speaking, mortal enemy. 

6.  Prior to being a parent had I been asked to list my hobbies, they’d have been sleeping, traveling, crafting, singing, and movie-watching.  Yeah, I said it.  Sleeping.  I love sleeping, dreaming, soft sheets…all things nap-related.  I love it.  That said, I’ve learned big things about sacrifice.

7.  Baby kisses are really the best.  Sometimes Baby Girl won’t quit crying until I kiss her cheeks and then offer her mine to kiss.  She’s into kissing everything.  I never thought I’d miss those slobbery gems during my work days.

8. Hearing about parenting and living it are two very different things.

9.  Co-parenting with Grant has caused us to become more angry at one another than we ever have before.  In one month’s time we’ve both thought/said/felt uglier things than we ever had in our prior six years of marriage.

10.   Co-parenting with Grant has caused me to fall even more deeply in love with him.  Being “Dah” around our house brings out a new masculinity in G that is so attractive and so confident.  He provides for us as our leader in hundreds of ways every day.

11. To check if a dog has an ear infection, tug on his ear.  To check if a baby has an ear infection, do not tug on his ear.  

12. Setting a wake up alarm is both naive and cruel when one lives with two babies.

13. Taking babies outside on a walk is like giving a grownup Xanax.

14. Kids create the opportunity to do a LOT more cleaning and provide a LOT fewer hours in the day to do so.

15. God extends His graces to moms and dads in the forms of baby giggles, sleeping through the night, toddlers who want to stop eating dinner to pray again and again, Saturday errands with my man, good music, and two sleeping babes in the backseat and millions of other ways.

16. It is really important to take time to recognize the graces God extends to moms and dads.