Eye on the Ball

I was talking to one of my girlfriends over the weekend about the situation we were presented with on Friday (re: the child about to be taken into state cust*ody). I explained that even with our strong commitment to waiting for the “right” situation to come along, it was surprisingly challenging for both of us to say no.

I hadn’t expected that.

I also hadn’t expected how little information they give you before asking you to make a decision. I wasn’t expecting a dossier, for heaven’s sake, but the call pretty much went like this:

SW – Hi! This is (name) from (county) D*C*F*S. We have a child we are looking to place. The child’s name is ____________, (s)he is _______ years old, is (race) and is about to be taken into custody. Well, what do you think?

I couldn’t help it. I threw my head back and laughed.

I had the presence of mind to ask a few questions which she was gracious enough to answer, and then I got on the phone to O. He was nearby and came right home so we could sit on the sofa together and talk about it.

I am so thankful for O and for his level-headedness when it comes to these situations. My emotions tend to take over. It’s not so much about just having a child in the house, which we’ve been working towards for a long time. For me, it has more to do with wanting to help a child who is hurting. That tends to cloud the logical part of my brain. I don’t want to give the impression that O doesn’t have a huge heart and all the sympathy in the world for a child being removed from his/her home. He really does. He’s just better able to keep his eye “on the ball” and remember what our ultimate goal is.

As I said in a recent post, we are willing to wait for a child who is a good fit for us and vice versa.

Now if I can just remember that the next time the phone rings. Eye on the ball.