Transitioning him home

We got word that Sir Smiles is heading home in just under a month.  Tomorrow will be his first unsupervised visit with his parents: 4 4-hour visits with them at their home this week, 6-hour ones next week, and then the overnights start.

We have not had a foster child leave since July of last year, so we have had an entire year of kids coming and no one ever leaving!  I don't know if my little kids even remember that kids come and go around here.  I am a little worried about how they will take it and whether it will hurt their feelings of security.

I think that Sir Smiles will be just fine.  He is very bonded to his dad, and I know his parents are giddy to be able to be a whole family again.  We will miss him.  He has become a part of our crew, and it's hard to imagine our family without him.  I look at him and know that he is ready to be sent on out to the world.  He made some great progress while he is with us, and we will send him off a much stronger, capable toddler than the one he was in September.

Tomorrow we will get our first glimpse of what we will be as a family of 10, and he will get his first glimpse of life in a family of 4.  Little by little I will start setting aside his things.  It will get more and more real as the visits progress.  I am thankful that we have this month to prepare.  I know it will go by quickly.