Snowbound Part II
We were snowbound for about a week. If you haven’t read part I, you can here. Halfway through the week, and we were going a little bit bonkers. Here’s how we coped.
Thursday
Our kiddo had another check in with someone from school. Can I just say that I am so glad that they had these check-ins. Someone checked in with them every single snow day we had, and many days they had multiple check-ins with different people.
Then we went to the store, ostensibly so our kiddo could spend their allowance, but in reality, it was because we needed to get out of the house, and we were expecting more snow or freezing rain later that day. They love stuffed animals, and they were able to find some new ones that they really liked.
After the store, we went to McDonald’s for lunch. The McDonald’s near us has a really cool play place, and I thought our kiddo would be thrilled to get the chance to run around. However, they didn’t want to play. I told them we would not leave until they played for 30 minutes. I thought that once they got started they would have so much fun they would forget about leaving, but they kept asking if we could go. I never thought I would have to require a kid to play. I think they didn’t want to play because the only other kids there were much younger. I was surprised that there weren’t more stir-crazy parents there.
We made it through the 30 minutes, and we left to try to go to the library again. I saw a bunch of cars in the parking lot, so I assumed that it was open. However, it was closed.
It was during this time that I realized that I needed a break. But Joshua was scheduled to work this past weekend, so I knew I had 3.5 more days at home alone with our kiddo. And I knew that I could not do that. I reached out to other foster parents and babysitters in our agency to see if anyone would be available to babysit at some point over the weekend. Thankfully a wonderful couple responded and agreed to watch them for a couple hours on Saturday.
That night, we played a bunch of games: Sushi Go, Uno, Spot It, and Taco, Gato, Cabra, Queso, Pizza. Our kiddo got super energized from playing the games especially because they won every single game of Spot It (though there was definitely some cheating going on). So, after games, we did a mindfulness video to calm down before bed, which sort of worked.
Friday
Joshua had a late start to work, so he hung out with our foster child while I had a little extra rest.
Our kiddo ended up having several zoom meetings on Friday. They talked with people from the school and with their family, so they day ended up being a much more relaxed day, which was what I needed because I hadn’t slept well the night before.
We both did some coloring, but we ended up spending much of the time when they were not in meetings watching TV.
After dinner, they were super energized, so we did this exercise video to use some energy. This has been my (well their) favorite exercise video so far. It doesn’t rely on language though it does have both Spanish and English, and it has fun music. Our kiddo didn’t really do the moves, but there was lots of jumping happening.
Saturday
When we had gone to the store on Thursday, I bought a car kit. It had a little car in it and different colors of clay. They were supposed to decorate the car with clay. So, after our morning TV time, we both played with the clay for about an hour. There was far more clay than was needed for the car, so we made other things too.
Then the other foster parent came over to pick up our kiddo so that I could have a break. Originally, I thought about going for a walk, but when I checked the temperature, the feels like was -4. I did not want to spend time outside in that weather, so I watched a cheesy Romcom instead. I also received a wonderful surprise. The first child who stayed with us gave me a call and thanked us for taking care of them. They are the first child to contact us after we’ve fostered them.
Getting out of our driveway was challenging. I tried putting cardboard under my tires, but it did nothing. So, I ended up driving partway into the yard, so I could have the traction of the snow to drive on.
I picked up our kiddo from the other family’s house, and we went to the trampoline park. They really wanted to go home and watch TV, but I knew that we both needed to get out and get some exercise. My sister-in-law brought her son, and the two kids enjoyed jumping and playing together. It didn’t matter if there was a language barrier; play is a universal language.
Once Joshua was off work, he joined us at the trampoline park, and we went to a Honduran restaurant for dinner. I had never had Honduran food before. We got horchata, which was similar to Mexican horchata, but it was a slightly darker color. I couldn’t tell you the difference, but this link can. While the horchatas seem very similar, Honduran enchiladas are unrecognizable compared to Mexican enchiladas. I am so glad that I now know how different they are because I had been thinking about making enchilada, but I think our kiddo would have been very disappointed if they were expecting Honduran enchiladas but got my version of Mexican enchiladas.
Sunday
Joshua had to go to work, but our foster child and I ventured out to go to church. It was so nice to have adult interaction.
After church, we went to the grocery store and another store so that our foster child could spend their allowance money. At some point during these errands, we got the notification that our foster child would be reunified with their family, pending travel arrangements.
That afternoon both the school district that I work in and the school district we live in called off. Since we had not heard anything about travel arrangements, we went to bed that night prepared for yet another day at home.
Monday
We got an early morning message that there would be school for our kiddo, but that it would be delayed. As I tried to process that message, I got another message that said our kiddo would be leaving that day. My phone was on Do Not Disturb, and I wasn’t planning on getting up as early as I did, but our kiddo came in our room and woke us up. That had not happened before, but thank God they did because we felt like we had to scramble a bit. We had figure out how to get all of our kiddo’s stuff into a carry-on suitcase. I had planned on doing laundry before they left, but I thought I would have the whole day because I thought there wasn’t going to be school.
Despite the mad dash to get everything done, we made it to the school with plenty of time. I hadn’t eaten breakfast or washed my hair, but you can only do so much.
I gave our foster child a hug farewell and left the agency. Just as quickly as they had come into our lives, they were gone.
I spent the rest of the day doing laundry, dishes, mopping, preparing for the week ahead and the next kiddo who will be coming. We don’t have any information about who our next child will be or when they’ll be here, but we’ll be ready for them.