Foster kids

TerryinMD · Jan 21, 2002

Paul,

I did not get married until I was 35 yrs old and my wife was 24 at the time. We waited two years for the birth of our first child and had our second two years later. Being older has its advantages in that you've burned off your youthful indulgences and have settled down into a more stable lifestyle. One of the downsides is that as your getting older the children are hitting their teens. This can be a little trying at times. However, being older carries with it some wisdom and you can reason with yourself a little better to handle those trying times.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is don't worry about age being a factor. Look at some of the previous posts and you'll notice that some people a few years old than you are having and taking on foster children. You'll do just fine. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Oh yeah, need to remind you of something though.... make sure you ask the doctor for the owners and technical manual for the baby. They sure come in handy. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Terry

MikePA · Jan 21, 2002

I was 30 and my wife 29 when we had our first daughter. Three years later, we had our second daughter. We both saw too many friends get married and have kids right away. While I am sure there are plenty of examples where it worked, the people we saw had problems. Just starting a marriage, just starting a career plus kids was too much for many of them and a divorce was the result. While this isn't something one person can try both ways (having kids early and having kids later), waiting until we were in our thirties worked for us. As an aside, I have a twin sister and we came along when my mom and dad were in their mid-40s, just when my two older sisters were getting ready to go to college. In fact, my mom didn't know she was carrying twins until the big day. Imagine her surprise!

frank_f15 · Jan 21, 2002

how fast did your hearts thump after that question? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

s1120 · Jan 22, 2002

Being older has its advantages in that you've burned off your youthful indulgences and have settled down into a more stable lifestyle. 

That was my thought. I lived my life for myself, time to live for someone else..

MikePA · Jan 22, 2002

It's these types of posts that make TBN a community and not just a gathering of userids trading information about tractors. The other discussion sites turn 'ugly' because userids never become people. It's much easier to spew out venom when the recipient is a thing and not a human being.

SteveM · Jan 22, 2002

Congratulations! My wife and I have been foster parents for about 6 years and find that our rural farm setting is perfect for raising kids with a tough past. Here in NY we are able to get permission for our kids to operate tractors, snowmobiles, boats etc with adult supervision and safety gear. Amen for hydrostatic! I dont let kids under 16 operate anything with spinning blades or shafts - but pulling a car around or fooling with pushing snow - no problem.

Good luck and enjoy!

Bob_Trevithick · Jan 22, 2002

Hi Steve,

...Here in NY we are able to get permission for our kids to operate tractors, snowmobiles, boats etc with adult supervision and safety gear.

That's interesting. We're also in NY, and they told us in no uncertain terms that we couldn't let them operate anything with an engine. I'm in no rush to do this, mind you.. but for future reference might you recall what the process is to get permission?

Thanks, and thanks to everyone for all the kind comments. We should know something soon. We really fell for these two kids, so we hope it works out. Barring something unforseen, it should be soon.. as they want them placed and all set to begin the new school semester.

Bob_Trevithick · Feb 9, 2002

...Oh yeah, need to remind you of something though.... make sure you ask the doctor for the owners and technical manual for the baby. They sure come in handy. 

Well, a little update here. They have decided we get the kids full-time starting on the 16th. We have them this weekend, too, and they are so excited they couldn't sleep! Well, part of the inability to sleep may have been due to our having just bought them a PlayStation 2 with a couple of games. /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif But we can use this thing as a DVD player for movies, so it seemed a good invenstment.. not to mention that we may be able to get some time on our computers now! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Anyway, we meet with their teachers and counselors next week, and meet the biological mother next week, and yes, that owner's manual would sure come in handy about now!!! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

MikePA · Feb 9, 2002

Congratulations, Bob! I'm sure you and your wife are as excited as the kids!!

Harv · Feb 9, 2002

owner's manual would sure come in handy

Tell you what, Bob -- if you have any problems with them at all, talk to Mark Chalkley and he'll tell you how to "enhance" them to suit your needs. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Congratulations on the noblest project ever to hit this board.