It Was a Good Day

..........

Today we slept in. (S) and I made pancakes and ate them at the table in the bedroom. Considering the potential for a disaster, there really wasn't much of a mess when we got done. (My DW may disagree with that. )There was a set of small sticky hands from the maple syrup, but luckily it didn't get all over the place After that it was out to run errands. (S) and I dropped DW off at the library and we went to the market to get some things we needed.

I ran into some people who I have known for a long time, but who I don't see on a regular basis. The first was a woman who lived across the street from us where we used to live. We had both moved onto that street around the same time almost 30 years ago. We were not real friends but certainly knew each other well. She asked me if (S) was a grandchild. She knows I have kids that age and that was a normal question to ask.

Then came the debate in my head. Do I tell the truth or do I make something up. I decided that since she has known me so long, I should tell the truth. When I said "No she is our foster daughter" she responded with "Oh, isn't that a nice thing to do." I was pleasantly surprised. I then complained that my own children weren't doing anything about providing grandchildren so there weren't any of those yet. (I am a bit jealous as she has like 3 or 4). She remarked how cute (S) is and that was the end of it. I really wish I could put a picture of her up here so you could all see how adorable she is.

Then I ran into a couple I have known for almost 20 years. Again, these are not real friends, but living in this town and having kids around the same age, we had crossed paths for different things many times. Again the normal question: "Is this a grandchild" I was feeling pretty confident after the previous encounter so again I gave the answer "No, she is our foster daughter." There was a slight delay and then the response. "Oh how nice. That is great. When did you start doing that?" I told them that (S) had been with us for a little over a year. There was then the same short conversation about grandchilren. (Yes I am jealous of them as well). and we moved on.

I felt real good about the responses I got today. These people have known me for a long time and maybe that helped, but this was the first time I got those responses and it made me feel a little better about the whole situation. I guess this goes back to the post a couple of weeks ago about acting more like an advocate not only for the children but for foster parents as well. After today I will feel more comfortable knkowing that not everyone will give me that negative response and the people that know me are really the only ones I care about. If someone who doesn't know me gives me that look and response we have all seen I feel now like I can just chalk it up to the fact that they don't know me.

It was then back to the library to pick up DW and then one more stop before going home for lunch.

All in all, I have to say it was a good day!