Nesting Instincts

GuestBlogger — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:53:34 -0500

Hanna is 24 and has been working with children since she was a child. She and her husband have been married for seven years and she recently finished a BS in Early Childhood Development. Her husband is a computer guru who has a gift for working with troubled kids. They are currently in the process of getting licensed for foster care and being placed with an 11 year old girl, whom they are planning to adopt.

The ironic thing is that when you get married at 17 many people assume that there is a baby involved. Seven years later, we are one of the last couples we know who do not have at least one child. I found out yesterday that one of my best friends from high school and his wife are expecting their first child, after only being married one year. Last week I found out that my stepbrother and his new bride got pregnant on their honeymoon at the beginning of July. I wish I knew how to be happy for them. I wish I knew how to keep these announcements from sending me into a whirlwind of emotions that I can’t do anything about, except pray…a lot.

My husband can’t quite understand why doing foster care is so important to me. I try to tell him that these feelings, these instincts are just sitting there, driving me crazy, and that my motherliness has to get out somehow. He still doesn’t and probably never will understand, but he understands that it is something I need to do, and at least he recognizes that these kids need his love as well.