Vol. 3, No. 2 • Spring 1999

What a Child Might Say

So are you wondering what I need?
Are you wondering what I would do about all of this
if I had the power?
First of all, it would help a lot if you would start with
one simple, clear commandment to yourself: Never
forget that I am watching.
Never forget that every single thing you do matters
immensely to me (even when I work like crazy to make
you think that it does not).
And I will remember.
You may be able to get away from treating me as if I am invisible for a while (perhaps long enough to “disrupt” me or move yourself to a different casework job).
But, in your heart of hearts, you know: I was there, watching, I was having deep feelings about what was happening to me and I needed someone to act as if it mattered, hugely.
Second, don’t imagine that I will ever stop yearning for my birth family (even though, as in other things, I will pretend otherwise).
Help me find some way to keep a connection with them, even if I never see them again.
Bring out pictures or a Life Book and hold me while I rage or sob or stare, or all these at once.
And understand that none of this is a reflection on you.
Don’t be surprised when I come back from a visit with them peeing my pants or throwing tantrums in the bath that night.
I told you: things matter to me.
So I am going to have feelings about things that matter to me.
Third, it would help a lot if you would make the decisions that you need to make and stick with them.
Some days I think my mind is going to explode because I know something is going on in my life but I can’t tell what it is; later I’ll learn that there was a court hearing that day and everybody in my life was wrought up and then it was “continued” (whatever that means—except mostly that nothing is getting decided, and I still don’t have a family).
I don’t get to make the decisions.
You do.
So have the courage to make them.
So that I can get a life.
Fourth, it would mean a lot to me if you would take good care of my foster family.
They have their hands full.
Sometimes they don’t know what to do with me.
So make sure someone is there to answer their questions, to encourage them, to help them understand me better.
You won’t like what will happen if I keep getting disrupted, and the only way I can think of to prevent this is to take extra good care of the people who are taking care of me.

From the videotape, Multiple Transitions: Portraying a Young Child’s Point of View on Foster Care and Adoption.

Copyright © 2000 Jordan Institute for Families