The visit
The visit with Izzy has gone very well. She’ll go home in the morning. Her worker will discuss with Izzy about whether she feels that she needs more visits in order to adjust or whether she feels she is ready for the placement.
Izzy has said about nine million times that she loves it here. She tells Callie every six minutes that she hopes I adopt her. She’s already picked out a new name that she wants to be called by when she is adopted. She seems really happy here. She is a little uneasy about leaving her brother, Alex. Alex is a year younger than Izzy. He doesn’t want to be adopted but he supports his sister’s decision. The two of them talked on the phone twice this weekend and will continue phone calls/letters and visits once she is here for good.
Izzy is very good with the younger children. Her interests tend to run a little behind Callie’s..for instance, Izzy likes Hannah Montana and High School Musical. But she also likes shows on Discovery Health. She has a much more innocent quality to her than Callie. Callie seems older than Izzy because Callie is more witty and cynical.
Izzy is very good at cleaning. She likes to grocery shop. Callie and Izzy planned and cooked dinner one night. They made fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and biscuits without any assistance or guidance from me. It was delicious.
Although Izzy has a diagnosis of mild mental retardation, the best way I can describe her to you is to say that she has developmental delays. Bubba isn’t mentally retarded, but he is not up to what a 3 year old should be. Just going off my knowledge of this weekend, I would say that Izzy presents as more of a 13 or 14 year old, rather than a 17 year old. Her reading skills are poor, but she has had no trouble reading anything that she’s had to read this weekend. She even has worked to check ingredients on things to see if they are dairy free before giving them to Snowbaby. Izzy was negelected for a very long time before she entered foster care. Since being in foster care, her reading level and IQ score have increased. Izzy spent much of her childhood fending for herself and not getting any kind of intellectual stimulation.
I have no doubt at all that she will do fine living and working on her own once she graduates from high school. She has held down jobs. She knows how to shop, has a savings account. She can work a computer, do laundry, and loves to bake and cook.
Callie and Izzy get along really well. Callie can be moody but Izzy isn’t bothered by it. If Callie is sulking in her room, Izzy will just go in the other room and watch TV. The two of them have sat up late talking. They found out that they can fit into most of each other’s clothes and are very excited about it. They both like to experiment with make-up. Callie is obsessed with Johnny Depp and Izzy thinks he’s gross, but she likes the rest of Callie’s posters of Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown and the other assorted men on the wall.
When I got into doing foster care, I really thought that it was just for me to try to get as young of a child as possible to replace the baby I didn’t think I could have.
I am so glad that I decided to open up my heart a little. I love my family.
July 1st, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Isn’t it funny how life doesn’t turn out the way we planned and yet it is perfect?
July 1st, 2007 at 10:00 pm
You really are the best Baggage, really. Izzy sounds like a dream. They cooked you dinner? Dang I need to order some of them. We did have a wonderful teen foster daughter who became very much a part of our family. We remember her with much love and fondness. That wasn’t true for all the teens we fostered, but sometimes things just work out. Good luck and keep us posted.
July 1st, 2007 at 10:02 pm
It is so wonderful that the left turn your life took you in has taken you to enrich the lives of these beautiful people.
July 1st, 2007 at 10:09 pm
[…] Zac Efron Link to Article johnny depp The visit » Posted at Baggage And Bug|Single Mom Adoption from Foster Care on Sunday, July 01, 2007 The visit July 1st, 2007 The visit with Izzy has gone very well. She’ll go home in the morning. Her worker will discuss with Izzy about whether she feels that she needs more visits in order to adjust or whether she feels she is ready for the placement. Izzy has said about nine million times that she loves it here View Entire Article » […]
July 2nd, 2007 at 5:40 am
I’m so glad the weekend visit went well!
July 2nd, 2007 at 8:38 am
I love your family, too!
July 2nd, 2007 at 11:44 am
Baggage, you seem to have discussed Izzy and Callie at length, but not mentioned Bug.
How does Bug feel about this? Reality is that Callie could leave tomorrow, but Bug is your daughter forever and how she and Izzy get along is critical if you are going to actually adopt her, because it makes her and Bug legally related forever as well.
I’m also curious if this is how she acts in other foster care situations. Obviously she’s trying to impress you, but she must have some faults…what do her current and previous foster parents say?
July 2nd, 2007 at 11:46 am
Good for you for being (very) flexible! I’m sure it will have its ups and downs (as any relationship does) but it sounds like she’s a sweet girl who deserves a chance to have a family.
July 2nd, 2007 at 11:55 am
Izzy is so lucky to have found you guys! How wonderful that she fits in so well already!
July 2nd, 2007 at 12:39 pm
I love your family too! What strength and courage you have…but even more so….so do your kids!
July 2nd, 2007 at 12:43 pm
This post makes me so happy. Yay! I love the picture you paint of Izzy and Callie together. That is awesome.
July 2nd, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Wow, this sounds really promising. Really, it sounds like very mild retardation indeed, nothing compared to my cousin, who certainly could not live independently, shop by herself, have a bank account or check labels for dairy, though she was employable and lived in a group home. Of course, this is the honeymoon period, and someone who will make dinner the first week may be an antisocial terror in four months (believe me, this is the story of many of my personal relationships… if ONLY they kept surprising me with meals and cleaning up after themselves). It is true what Aurelia says… Callie may not stay, but this would be Bug’s closest relation for the rest of her life barring you. How is Bug doing, but getting along with Izzy, going from being an only child to oldest child to middle child of a large family, and with the idea of another girl being adopted forever? Obviously from the “doesn’t do anything” quip on the post dated also July 1, she is being a bit snarky and there is some friction between her, you and the other girls. Are sides being picked??? Waiting to hear more. Congrats on having such a wondrously successful first visit. How great is that!!