What I can tell you is this: they are brothers, ages 6 & 8, about a year and a half apart, but only 1 year in school apart. They are friendly, active, exhuburant and delightful (most of the time).
They are also stubborn, have selective hearing and are far too clever for their own good (like most boys their age, I suppose).
I call them Big Bro and Little Bro on the blog.
They are different in their own ways, too of course.
Big Bro is shyer when meeting strangers, has more of a 'wall' up when being disciplined, glowers when displeased and has a slow smile when amused.
Little Bro is more gregarious with strangers, has deep dimples and his whole face splits into a grin when he laughs (which is often); when he's mad/sad/displeased/any negative emotion, he pouts. It's a rather impressive full body pout, though: whole body goes stiff, head drops and his bottom lip sticks waaaaay out.
Although they are African-American, the oldest has a 'white' sounding name. The younger has a very steriotypically black first name, but actually goes by his middle name, which is more 'white' sounding. Sometimes I wonder which name he will choose to use as he gets older.
The DHS workers tell us we are extremely lucky to have kids like these. It's their first placement and their situation was one of neglect, not abuse. And while they are not suffering from major physical trauma, they have behaviors and issues of their own.
It doesn't feel like we're lucky; they are a lot of work- they are so energetic that it's all Greg and I can do to collapse on the couch after we herd them into bed. And, from what we can tell, their home life was very unstructured (no formal bedtime, no chores, etc). So we are having to put into place those kinds of structures while also dealing with their energy, attitudes, feelings of abandonment, etc. Frankly my dear, it's exhausting.
We've had them for 17 days. 17 hilarious, chaotic, frustrating, joyful days.
Below: Day before they arrived; room styled to perfection.
Aaaaaand: This morning. Yup, two boys live here.
THanks so much for doing this! Those boys are lucky to have you. And, honey, he got out of bed - that's pretty much par for course on boys messing up an otherwise unmessable bedroom. LOVE on those boys - that's all they need.
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