Happy 2nd Birthday!

             I got to experience one of the most amazing birthday parties ever yesterday! Nothing could have made me more happy then this party so much that I did start to cry at it because I was just overwhelmed by it. I also missed having the chance to do it too. My friend is a single foster parent and she has two children that she is taken care of and the little boy's birthday was this past Friday (17th). His party was yesterday and I got invited to it and it was so much fun for me. Just to see a party outside of the shelter for a little foster kid was an experience in itself.
            I can tell you that at the shelter we did cupcakes and a lot of gifts that were donated to the shelter to give the children on birthdays but that is nothing compared to experiencing a foster kid's birthday with someone you know. It gets to be big and wherever you want it to be. It isn't just at the house or a building. My friend had her little boy's party at a big and nice playground where he could play and the adults could play with him. He actually had some friends that he knew there and some of his siblings were there too. It was just a nice get together for some more foster parents. I ended playing with the little boy the most and watching him because I was the only adult there with no children but I had fun too. Just getting to spend time with a foster kid again makes my heart happy especially at his birthday party.
            I get to be at that special moment of his life and also get to give him something too. I brought him a shorts outfit to wear and 3 little magnet trains. He loved the trains so much that he carried them around for a little while after he opened them. His "mom" even got him his 1st ever tricycle but he didn't seem too interested in that at the party. Too much going on there. That was another neat moment I got to be apart of. It was funny because he didn't get into his own cake too much if at all. He would rather and did have goldfish crackers and grapes instead of his chocolate cake. He did lick the icing off of the candle though. Then there was a rainbow cake with white icing for the other children and adults and then some chocolate cupcakes too with green and orange icing on them. There was also blue, yellow, and red streamers everywhere like on the tables and poles.
            It was just a joy to see the smiles on his face throughout the party and just seeing him playing like nothing was wrong with the world. He also played with the balloons that were used for some of the decorations when it was almost time to leave. He love his balloons. He really didn't get to open any of his presents because his siblings that were there, with their foster parents, were just a little too helpful and fast for him. They opened up all of his presents. You would also see him just run around with the bigger children acting like one of them. You knew he wanted to be like them so bad. He played on a slide that he loved non stop. He did go on a few different slides and the spinning toy but he mostly went back to one certain slide. The slide had little spinners on them and they went around as the kid went down. It reminded me of a sensory kind of toy.
              It is moments like this little boy's birthday and some holidays that I just want to take the children with no homes or parents in to live with me. I mean just think not celebrating anything must be a boring and unfunny life. It was neat to because it was his first birthday that he knew or understood more of what was going on. You know when children are 1 year old they have no idea what is going on. I can tell you, though, this little boy was fully aware of where he was and what was going on. So much that he had fun for about 2 hours and was getting sleepy by the end of the party. He was rubbing his eyes and his eyes were getting darker and darker underneath.
              Someday I hope that I can be apart of some child's life like this but for now I just have to do with what I got. :) I think God put me where I am now just to see how fun and serious it can be. I bet He is wondering if I would stick with it and the more I see my friend do it, the more I will want to and will stick with it. I will tell you all, though, working at the shelter and having foster children of your own is not the same at all. You are in control of the children in your house, no building or no-porfit is in control of them. It is under your roof so you are mainly free to do what you want unless the state puts limits on you and they might sometimes.
            Neither way is easier but I think one is more rewarding then the other. When they are under your roof, you know the change that you have made in them was all you if you are the first one to have them. you don't have 3 other teachers around them all the time or half of the time. You are there with them night and day. Weekdays and Weekends. Maybe this would be a good route for me to go on? We'll just see. Still thinking about it and that is all I can say for now.