Overheard at my house....

Jon and G (8 year old foster son) reading:
G: Do I have to read all this? That's a lot of words.
Jon: Yes, it's good practice.
G: Dang it.

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When Caleb is stalling, particularly for nap or bed time, his tactics are to add things to his prayer list. The first thing to add, "Mommy pray for church." So we pray for our church....

And then he says, "Mommy pray for....for....um....pray for....."

And then he says, " I need something." We asks what he needs, and he responds, "Something."

Utterly annoying.
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Caleb: "Can I have juice with a straw and a wrapper?"
Me: "You mean a juice box?"
Caleb: "Yes."
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Me: "Caleb, why don't you go get yourself a kleenex and wipe your nose?"
Caleb: "Ok"
Caleb walking towards the bathroom...."Can I just look for money instead?"
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Whenever Caleb gets in trouble, he gets sent to his room or to the stairs for time out. We then will go talk with him and talk about why he is in time out. His response is always, "But I a good boy."
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While pouring Caleb some milk.
Caleb: "Is that warm milk or cold?"
Me: "Cold. I just got it out of the fridge."
Caleb: "This house is weird."
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Caleb: "Mom, am I adopted?"
Me: "Yes, you are!" (ready to start a long age appropriate conversation).
Caleb."Ok" (and runs off to play).

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Caleb: "Baby J has black face, I have a brown face, you have a white face."
Me: "Yes, God made us all that way."
Caleb: "Good. So you know?"  (As if I missed that the past three years)
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G to Caleb (a normal, everyday argument): "You snotty nose, you don't even know what 8+9 is."
Caleb: "Hahahha. Nope."
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"Mom, I have too much wotion?"

 Our 8 year old foster son is obsessed with putting lotion on his body. I assume that C will follow suit, not only because he looks up to 8 year old G, but because his skin is getting a bit dry and ashy.

I just didn't realize that he couldn't put lotion on himself. I heard him say, "Mom, I have too much wotion?" 

In my own little corner

• In a few hours, I leave for Detroit. Our church is going on an Urban Missions Trip and I am so excited to be a part of it. It seems strange to be packing and getting the whole family (all three of us) ready for this. I am always the one to leave, to go on these trips, to staff these trips with college students as well as a variety of other travel fun. This time....me, my hubster and the baby. Wow. All of us. Feels great, even if I am weirded out. 

Because I will have my "Mom hat" on, amongst other things, I have a feeling that a lot of my time will be spent with Caleb and other kids. This will be different!

I am currently reading the Bible through in 90 Days. It has been a sure test of discipline. I have loved it. It has been hard to not dig deep and study, but I am reminded of the importance of a Biblical Overview. It has been 10 days and I have covered Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and am currently in Numbers.

My to do list is bigger than the alloted amount of time in a day. When will that change?

I had a brush with insanity this week. The last straw dropped and I went to the salon and had Caleb's head shaved. Wow. I am both mourning and rejoicing. No more sticky, yucky food hiding in his afro, no more combing and picking through, no more tantrums with the grease, no more worried that his hair will get wet and then I will have to comb it out again.....but HE LOOKS SO    B I G.  Can someone please come and tell him to stop growing?

I have a few hours before we leave for Detroit. I need to finish my Bible reading for the day, clean out the car, pack the car, pick up cat food, find coolers, fans and paint supplies and work on some of our Bible Studies for our time in Detroit. Can't wait to take a few pictures in the city.....and then of course bring them to you:)

My Heros (DUP continued)

On Sunday night, during the Detroit Urban Plunge, I met my heroes.

I walked into a single family home on Detroit's east side, immediately my nostrils were filled with the satisfying smells of soul food. Mmmmm soul food. They call it soul food because it is good for your soul, not your hips, you know:)

One woman, that's right folks, one woman spent the whole weekend prepping and making a huge soul food meal for 30 people (22 of those being bottomless pits, hungry college students). We had TONS of left overs. She gave some to us, and some to her family members.

The food was to die for. I have been saying that I want to make some good soul food so I can show the world  that I am a real black mamma, and boy oh boy, did this woman help to motivate me.

But that's not why she is my hero.

The woman on the far right is the glorious cook!

 

 

 

I could have talked with these women all night long. Sadly we had to leave, otherwise I think I would have stayed the night.

The woman in the black sweater fostered 37 children and adopted four. The woman in the black and white shirt fostered over 50 children and adopted four, 2 of which were white. I enjoyed hearing their stories, their struggles with raising and parenting all of these children, their frustrations with a broken social system, stories about raising and adopting children of another race and listening to their advice.

I thought I came to Detroit to help the city. Perhaps to help students engage in the city, to lead them and to help them process. I never thought that I would meet my heroes in Detroit.

May I seek to have their heart for the children without families and without homes. May my heart break like theirs did and still does. May I seek justice for the broken system. May I always follow God's leading.

The Diaries of a White Mamma- {Hair Edition}

Things

get

stuck

in

my

child's

hair.

Like

puffs

of

cereal.

The Diaries of a White Mamma- {Hair Edition}

I was schooled in doing Caleb's hair, er NOT doing Caleb's hair. Caleb turned 8 months old yesterday and up two days ago he has never had a comb through his hair.  Yes, you read that right, I am a horrible mother that does not know hot to do her child's hair. I didn't know if you should comb right through, if it would make the hair more frizzy or hurt him. So nothing was done, because that is me, the "all or nothing" girl. Not my greatest feature.

Anyways, I had a friend over on Thursday and had her way with Caleb. There were lots of tears, not sure if there were more from me, or more from him. She greased up that boy and combed through his giant head of hair. And there were more tears.

He had beautiful hair before, but my oh my, some product and some work, what a beautiful boy I have!

Give me some grace, k?

The Diaries of a White Mamma

(a re-occurring post about my journey as a white woman parenting a non-white child)

Caleb's hair is OUT. OF. CONTROL. There is no other way to say it. I love his beautiful afro, and his daddy is quite jealous at the amount of hair that he has, but this white mamma, has NO idea how to "do" this do.

Advice? What products should we use? How often should we wash it?

The Diaries of a White Mamma

As I journey along this road of being a white mamma to a black boy, I thought I would share some of my experiences with you.

This week, my husband took Caleb for a walk in the park. It is so funny to me that the white kids come up to the stroller and ooo and ahh over this boy, and the African American kids (ALL ages, even college students) say, "Why do you have that black baby?" Or..."Do you know he is black?"

When you 51/2 month old decides to put his hands in his mouth while eating cereal, leaving tons of cereal in his hands, and then like all babies, rub his hands through his hair.....Black hair is so so so so much harder to clean cereal out of than his white counterparts.

Oh Jesus, teach me to be this mamma that this baby needs.