After a slow and lazy morning the kids and I embarked on a shopping adventure! Shopping with three teenage girls while keeping track of a 3yr and a 5yr old and fending off the gimmees of my 9 and 10yr old...is exhausting!
To start off we had a couple errands to take care of. We stopped by the vision center to see about getting Bella's (our youngest teen) glasses fixed or replaced. Her frames are cracked above one of the lenses so we need to get them taken care of. Turns out the best option will probably be to get a new pair, but that will depend totally on if CMDP (foster care medical insurance) will cover a new pair. The other option is to possibly get new frames for the same lenses. That will be a long shot and may not work. I will have to visit with their cw about what the options are.
Next stop was the library. I have to say I LOVE how excited these girls were to get library cards and immediately find a book. They all came home with something to read. Even though our library is waaaaaay smaller than what they are used to they were happy to be there and enjoyed checking it out. My kids ran a bit a muck as we got the girls set up, and we had a few whines about just what wii game we were coming home with, but nothing too terrible.
From there we hit the only retail store in town that carries clothing in our price and style range, then visited a couple thrift stores in search of pants for Bella (She arrived with only two pair). I didn't have super high expectations of finding something that would satisfy the girls, but happily we ended up with two pair while staying well under budget! Turns out that the emergency clothing stipend is only $75! I am just grateful these girls aren't divas who need name brands! We didn't even spend half though, so I promised Bella we would spend the rest the next time we make a trip to our larger neighboring town where shopping is much more plentiful. She was happy with that, and it gives us all something to look forward to.
At that point we all needed a break so we stopped by my mom's house so the girls could visit with my nieces and my little ones could run with their cousins. That is when I got my first lesson in teen parenting. Bee (our middle teen) left to go hang out with my niece for a bit and my sister asks me "when did you tell her to be home?"...and I realize I didn't. My sister laughed at me. Then she helped me figure a reasonable time and I called my niece and had her relay the curfew. They weren't thrilled to have one, but they were accepting and made sure she was home a few minutes early. How strange it was to start watching the clock 1/2 an hour before that time and to start worrying! That strange balance between trust and fear, letting them make choices but still maintaining authority. Adding CPS to the mix makes it even weirder. I am not sure what the "rules" are for things like hanging out with friends, spending the night, unsupervised activities, etc. I want to just trust my own judgement, but I may have just broke a few without knowing while trying to let her just be a normal teenager. *sigh* I will have to have a chat with my cw before I chat with theirs so we can find the right balance.
After my mom's and before Bee showed back up, we went grocery shopping. We only had half my little ones, so it wasn't quite as crazy as it could have been, and I enjoyed spending the time with Sunshine and Bella. They are some great girls. It was a long list of groceries though and we were all exhausted by the time it was over!
An eventful and enjoyable day. Seven kids wasn't so bad today. I think maybe I can do this.
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