My 12 year old son's guest post

The following is a completely unedited post written by my 12 year old son. The snark is aimed at a very obnoxious commenter that has been critical of our choice to be part of the System.

A Post By Derech Eretz

Hey – would you find it interesting if I wrote a post about this whole foster care thing from my perspective? Really? Ok. Then I will.

I'll take you through this in words you can understand. I have read through these comments, and while some are helpful and written by bright people, others are hateful and written by the dimmest bulbs in the box. I'll try to compromise my writing for the dimmer bulbs.

I was on my bus two weeks ago coming home from camp. I was tired. Pooped – if you will. I had also gotten two bee stings. (My friend and I had been attacked by bees that day). The way my bus route is mapped out, my bus passes my house going on the opposite side of the road. I live on a county road, so my bus cannot just turn into my driveway if it's going on the opposite side of the road. I saw my mom, Tikkun Olam, talking on the phone in our doorway. That had me wondering. We don't usually receive calls at that time. I know that would usually be a crazy thought. I am a child. Children are curious. Well anyway, my bus dropped of some more people and turned around to drop me off. I got home and my mom was still on the phone. She was saying something about age, if I remember correctly. Soon after that she got off of the phone and told us that we had just gotten a placement! I was shocked. It was time to prepare. I started to clear out CD's room of junk and I rested. If you don't think that's a necessary part of preparing for a new sibling after a very long day of camp, you are wrong. Remember? Pooped? So I rested.

My dad got home and we needed to go to K-Mart to pick up the basics for CD. That means sippy-cups, diapers, clothing, etc. We then proceeded to go to our friends who had a crib that they were just about to sell. I must include that it is a very nice crib. We went home and guess who was there? CD! It's like first seeing your sibling. I know because I remember seeing my little brother for the first time. That, I believe, is my first memory. I was only 3½.

CD was very scared of my dad. She was scared of me too, but at that point, she was much too tired to care. I had her in my lap and she couldn't see me so she was fine.

My dad, brother and I went to set up CD's crib. We had no A/C in her room. We half-assembled the crib when we decided it was too hot in there so we temporarily moved it to my parents' room. It's nice and cool in there.

That was pretty much the end of my day and I fell asleep. I dreamt some and then I woke up in the morning. I got up. I took a shower. I got dressed. I did what I do every day. I ate breakfast. Something on this day was different, though, because I wanted to see my sister. Yes, I am calling her my sister because we're supposed to treat her like family and to me she is family as long as she needs to be. I was extremely tired because of how late I had stayed awake the night before. After that, I just could not fall asleep. So I stayed home from camp. We went to Target. I pushed CD in the shopping cart and held her as she would be distracted by all of the pretty things in the store. We went home. That's all I really remember from that day because I was half-asleep the whole day.

Those were the first two days that I knew CD. Since then she has warmed up to me and my dad and has been so friendly. Do you think your stereotypes of foster children are correct? If so, then you're WRONG. She couldn't be any sweeter or more well behaved. She feels like a sister to me.

That weekend we went to my aunt and uncle's house to get all of their hand-me-downs. My aunt buys the most beautiful clothing for her children, so CD was in luck. We had a lot of fun there.

I could go on and on about my everyday experiences with CD, but that would take me forever to write, and you've already read my mom's posts. You probably want to hear my opinion on this whole foster care thing. Well here it is.

I'm making foster care my Bar Mitzvah project. That shows just how much I care for these children whose parents can't take care of them for whatever reason. This cause is really important to my whole family. I'll have more about that in future posts.

Now CD is sick and is very difficult to take care of. Last night she kept waking up and crying every half hour or so. She was waking me up too. I fell asleep, but CD and my parents didn't much. They've been tired all day and taken only short naps. CD is now sound asleep and happy. She's getting better. I hope she continues to be better.

As I continue to grow, I see life's purpose more clearly, and that is to leave the world better than when you found it. This, foster care, in our case, is making the world better. What is better than teaching someone how to fish. If you give a man a fish, he'll have dinner for one night. If you teach a man how to fish, he'll have dinner forever.

Criticize me all you want. Seriously. Go on, tell me why this is wrong. I will surely answer to your comment. Say all you want, don't censor yourself because I'm just a kid. Go on, comment your words of wisdom.

From Mr. Mister, my 8 year-old son: Today my mom’s parents came to my house. After my dad and I went to the library, it was closed. So then we went to Target we got CD clothes and looked for the game Stratego. When we got home my dad and I played Stratego. It was a busy day.