Respite

We had our first respite placement last month and I really enjoyed myself.  The house has seemed so empty since Munchkins 1-4 left that it was nice to have some energy back in the place.  Munchkin 5 was a 3 (almost 4) year old little girl with boundless energy.  When I said I wanted some energy back in the house, God certainly answered!  M5 went full throttle from the time she woke up until the time she dropped exhausted into bed.  Respite care was an interesting experience.  Whenever someone unfamiliar watches my child I always give them TONS of information about what to expect, what her routines are, where I'm going to be, insurance cards, doctor's phone numbers, etc.  When M2, M3, M4 went to respite for a week I did the same thing for them.  You want your kids to feel comfortable and you want the person watching them to feel confident right?  Apparently not everyone rolls that way, at least not for their foster kids.  I had to ask repeatedly to have M5's foster mom contact me so that I could get even very basic information about her.  When she arrived she came with her clothes (albeit interesting selections for the forecasted weather) and that was it.  There were no phone numbers for how to reach her foster parents, no mention of who her doctor was, no medicaid number, I didn't even know her last name for pete's sake!  The foster mom gave me basically no information (even when asked) about her likes, dislikes, routines, etc.  All she told me was that the kiddo wouldn't sleep and that she usually puts her to bed at 8:30pm with a portable DVD player and then she ends up end the foster parents' bedroom every night!  Oh, and that she didn't/wouldn't take naps.  The first night of course was rough.  M5 was scared and confused.  She woke up 6 times sobbing, but never left her room.  Each time I went in to comfort her.  After that first night she never woke up even once during the night and never left her room once put there.  In our house, sleep is a priority and we are pretty good (if I do say so myself) at sleep training kids.  The Lion was a stinky sleeper for most of her life and M2-4 had to be taught from square one even though they were old enough they should have  known better.  M5 was a piece of cake to "train."  All it took was a consistent, calming routine and she was golden.  She even napped (actually slept not just rested) all but 2 days she was with us.  I truly believe she was simply lacking a good bedtime routine and was over tired before they were even putting her to bed.  We put her to bed a full hour and a half BEFORE they had been putting her down plus she was taking 2-3 hour naps during the day.  That most likely had the most to do with it.  One of the saddest things about M5 was that she, like M1-4, didn't know how to cuddle.  This really surprised me given the fact that she has been in her current foster home for over a year.  In general, she just didn't want to be touched at all, not even to have her back rubbed.  I don't know what her situation was like and why she was removed, but it still made me sad to see her so averse to affection.  We had a nice time while she was here and would definitely take her back again.  She fit in pretty well around here.  Now, we just wait for the next placement!