Side-eye

Friday, May 10

Praise the lord! Greg has returned from far away lands! And we went to the airport to pick him up.

I got the boys fed, "homeworked" and bathed and into clean comfy clothes (in case they fell asleep on the way home - HA!) & we headed to the airport to meet Greg's 8:30 flight.

The boys had never been to the airport, so they were excited to check the whole thing out.

As they whirled through the carousel door and loudly observed and questioned every new thing, I felt the eyes of the baggage claim crowd tracking our progress through the terminal. The judgment was palpable: those kids sure are loud...is that their MOM?!?....surely not...who are they meeting?....wait, he's not black....

So far, the racial oddness of our placement has gone largely unremarked, in public spaces. With the exception of a few "are they twins?" inquiries, laden with curiosity, who are inevitably disappointed when I cheerfully chirp, "Nope!" and herd the boys onward.

But not comments or inquiries, doesn't mean people aren't looking, wondering perhaps judging. I fully expected foster care to be a crap shoot in many aspects, including racially. However, I expected to field more outright questions and fewer sidelong glances.
Our reasons for fostering are focused on conveying value, love and respect to whatever kids need it, regardless of age, race, or gender.

However, trying to DO that in a piblic space, when I'm also worried about managing behaviors in public spaces is extremely challenging. Ultimately, it's no ones business, but in an extremely conservative state like OK, conservation's about child abuse, fostering and even racial equality are rare. I hope that I am ready to have them, when the opportunity presents itself.