Other Family

 It's strange, when you adopt, and hard some times, accepting that your kids had families before they became part of yours.  They had birth families, they had multiple foster families, they still have half siblings who are in other families which make them a kind of family to you, as well.  And those families some times want to visit with your kids.

And they still think of your kids as "their kids".  This can be tough.

Jordan and Karyie lived together in one foster family for almost a year and a half before they joined our family.  Jordan still likes to call them now and then.  They still like to visit with the girls now and then.  This particular Saturday we got together with them at a park to have lunch.  I played "500" with the kids.  That's a game where you throw a football and yell a number.  Whoever, in the crowd of kids, catches it, gets that number of points.  The first one to catch 500 points wins.

As an adoptive mom, you hear stories of the previous families, both good and bad.  It's hard not to be jealous of the good times and angry about the bad times.  I try to remember that if my kids were to tell another family about their lives here, it would be the same, good times and bad times.  I try to remember that I'm the lucky mom who gets to be their mom forever.  I try... but it's tough sometimes.