Fostering The Love In Kansas

This is going to be a long one so settle in with a cup of coffee or something... With every stress comes relief, in some way or another. I'm feeling some relief after the last week. Over 60 days ago, Little Man was put up on my agencies adoption website.  The reason this happens is that he's part of a sibling set.  He's been placed with me for over 3 years and separate from his siblings that whole time.  There were MANY reasons for that but also many reasons why they shouldn't be together and were kept apart. Our state prefers children be kept together.  To the point of removing kids from families that they have been with for years and are more than willing to adopt. Which is what could happen in our case. So they have to advertise the siblings on the website in the hopes that a family (2 parent) will take all 3. September 24th was the last day of Little Man being on the adoption website for 60 days.  I woke up every day with a reminder on my phone how m...

Several months ago, Little Man was diagnosed with severe ADHD.  It's not a surprise, at all. Lately, his "quirkiness" is coming out.  I think he's feeling safe and can now "become" himself.  Which means, he starts to show his personality.  And I'm concerned. He is extremely high energy.  We all knew that from the beginning but it seems like it's getting almost manic.  He can't slow down fast enough to catch himself before he hurts himself or others, break things, or just generally get in trouble. What I hate is that I'm considering putting him on medication.  His school is working with him to keep him on track but they struggle, daily.  I struggle to keep him from spiraling to the point where he harms himself, me, other or just generally makes bad decisions. But at some point, I have to help him focus and slow down.  We used to take deep breathes (4 of them) and that was something I had hoped he would take on himself and...