Injuries in Foster Care

Welcome back to Taylor Talks!

We're having a much more low-key night compared to last night's craziness... unless you count Twin A's sudden bout of the giggles after we went out to dinner. That was, as Twin B has taken to saying, a "bit" silly.

Twin B was feeling much better today, and the only reminder of last night's trauma was the huge bandage on her forehead. She was back in good spirits, playing with her twin, and she can even go swimming as long as she doesn't soak her head. Twin A, we discovered after our hospital run, had also gotten hurt and appears to have rug burn or something on her stomach (it's incredible that the two of them don't have even more injuries from the way they're always running around!), but she's doing well too.

All of these injuries reminded me of when Twin A ended up in a body cast. Did I ever write about that story? I don't think I did, so I'll fill in the details now.

It was my last night of work at the library where I had worked all through high school, shortly before I was leaving for my freshman year of college. My mom had never called me to come home early before, but that night my boss came over and told me that my mom was on the phone and she needed me. My mom said that Twin A had spilled water on the floor, probably from her sippy cup, and she had fallen and wouldn't stand up anymore (the twins were a year and a half at that time). I couldn't believe I had to leave my last night of work early, but I said a quick good-bye to everyone (promising to come back in for a real good-bye before college started) and I rushed home.

My dad was working out of town at the time, but my brother, who was going into his junior year of high school, was old enough to stay home with the other three kids while I accompanied my mom to the hospital with Twin A. It was so chaotic, and it took forever to find out that my little sister had broken her leg. Then it was taking forever for a doctor to come in and do something, which we eventually found out was because the hospital didn't have a pediatric wing, but then they wouldn't let us leave to go to another hospital unless the baby was transported in an ambulance. The poor baby was in so much pain, but we had no choice but to wait for the doctors to get their acts together (after some yelling from my mom, of course... I love when she fights for her kids).

As it turned out, we eventually got the baby transported to another hospital an hour away, and the doctors there were able to fix her up. The bad news was that because of the placement of the break, and the fact that she was a baby who was very active, the doctors had to give her a cast that went all the way down the broken leg, halfway down the other leg, and up to the middle of her stomach. They even had to build in a hole so that my mom could change her diaper still.

But did that body cast stop my little sister? No way! After she was reunited with her twin (even at that age they knew when they were apart and didn't like that one bit!), it didn't take too long for her to realize that she could walk, yes, walk, with the cast on. She had to hold onto furniture for balance, but we were so impressed with the way she would pull herself along so she could still play with her sister. My siblings never cease to amaze me.

So surprisingly, the body cast ended up being more of a pain in the butt for my mom, who had to work around it to change diapers, than it was for my baby sister. But the hardest part was that the twins were still in foster care at the time, which meant that there had to be a small investigation done to make sure that my mom hadn't hurt the baby. The injury was taken much more seriously because of the fact that she was a foster child. Luckily, the twins' special education teacher (who came to the house to work with them a few times a week since they were behind in a few areas in life after being born so prematurely), had been at the house when the accident happened. She had stopped by to have my mom sign off on some paperwork, so she saw the whole thing. She spoke to the people doing the investigation, and it was shut down right away. The investigation seemed so crazy to me at the time, because my mom would never hurt anyone. My parents never even spanked any kids, because they don't believe in that kind of discipline. But looking back on it, I can see why an investigation would be required in that kind of a situation. I may know that my mom would never do anything like that, but to the court system, she's just another foster parent. And unfortunately, some foster parents don't do the right thing. It can be difficult to see your kids get hurt when you're a foster parent because you need to look out for them and help them get over their pain, but you also have to look out for yourself.

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On a much brighter note, we were lucky enough to have no major issues today. It was a pretty laid-back Sunday, and I ended the night by baking some chocolate chip cookies. I've been craving them for a few weeks and I finally couldn't stand it anymore! Okay, so part of me just wanted a reason to bake, but I really did want to eat some cookies. I haven't found good chocolate chip cookies in the stores down here like we had in New York, so I figured I would have to take matters into my own hands and make some for myself.

What is your favorite type of cookie? Tell me in the comments, and maybe I'll try to bake a batch one day! If I do, I'll be sure to put up pictures and give a shout-out to the person who gave me the idea! (Reminder: you don't need to include an email address to comment!)

Thank you so much for your continued support! I look forward to sharing more stories about my experience with foster care, and hopefully hearing from readers who have questions or similar stories to share. I'm always willing to answer questions and hear about other experiences! Please don't forget to like and share my Facebook author page as well!

I’d greatly appreciate it if you would share this blog with friends and family through your favorite social media sites. If you’re sharing on Twitter, don’t forget to tag me (@TayTayK02) and use the hashtag #TaylorTalks.

Thanks!
Taylor

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