Part 2 of 2 : Grace for the stupid

Two MOndays ago Hubby and I , out of the blue, began talking about taking in another little girl. We thought that maybe we could be open to it and talked with Snow White about bringing in a "foster sister". She was excited about the idea, so we decided to pick up the next time that placement called. 

Placement called today while I was on my way to court. 

"Can you take a 1 year old and a 6 year old?"

"So sorry we only have one more room and nowhere to put the 1 year old."

"Can I call you back if I can't find a placement for the six year old?"

"we will see how my court hearing today goes."

SO the motion hearing was a non-event, and none of our questions for the future were answered. However placement called me back and there was no where else for this little girl to go (supposedly).

I called hubby and we went through all of the reasons not to take her:

1 money

2 we are planning a birthday trip to Disney for Snow White and what if we can't go?

3 can Snow White handle it?

4 time

5 we are in the beginning of a contentious case and are going to try to adopt

6 She is one of five kids from a county away and transportation will be an issue. 

There were many others, but it came down to this: she needed a home and we could give her one. So in came Ariel. She is a beautiful six year old with brown hair and striking brown eyes. She is as stereotypical a placement as you can imagine. She is a little wild with no manners, but is eager to please. She gorged herself on the food that we gave her and continued to ask for more. She was so sweet to Snow White, but both will end up vying for individual attention. 

She was placed in case because of domestic abuse, and got taken away from mom for "failure to protect." Dad is going into jail and apparently mom spent the day with her and her 4 siblings all day. Her clothes were dirty and ill fitting, and I had to check for lice. 

She is awesome. 

She reminds me of why we started doing this in the first place. It has been easy the past 8 weeks or so to forget that Snow White isn't ours. She fits into our family so well and acts like our daughter. It is strange to look back on her entering our home and having some of the same behaviors as Ariel displayed tonight. Poor thing was a whirling dervish all night until she exhausted herself out and feel to sleep. I doubt she will stay that way and I expect I will be woken up several times tonight. 

Worth it.