Other People's Kids

Evaluation

"Jake" impresses me more and more as I get to know him. He has to be asked to help out with a house project only once, and rarely skips out before the project is done. He clears the snow off the decks after being asked once. We have not had a single argument with him. He gives The Wife a little lip, but nearly always with this curious little half-smile that I've come to know means that he is kidding.

He's kind to the animals, and has been solidly adopted and duly worshiped by Zach. The cats love him. Suki has fit into a houseful of cats and dogs as if she had been here all along, with not a single accident outside her litter box.

"Jake" also wants to join the military...I've been told he wouldn't have a great chance at getting in, but I'm not sure why aside from the fact that he takes meds. If he could drop the meds at some point, I think they'd take him based on what I've seen, but I guess there could be things I don't know about. His former foster parents for whatever reason tried to discourage him from joining by reminding him that people get killed in the military.

D'oh! Being willing to give your life for your country (if necessary) is the whole point. Nice side benefits are gaining discipline, self-confidence and a sense of mission about your life. I tried to join during the run-up to the first Gulf War (disqualified because of some medical issues...damn). I have no doubt I'd be a better person today if I'd made it in. And I've only ever personally known two vets who stated that they would rather they had never joined, and they both had to kill a lot of people in Vietnam. I've probably known a hundred vets (including Dad), all of whom benefitted in various ways from their service as much as the country did.

But anyway, this kid seems normal in almost every way, which is amazing given the few things I've learned about his family situation. Absolutely amazing.

And incidentally the reimbursement for this one is the highest of any kid we've ever had. I will NEVER understand how they assign those values. It seems like the reimbursement has an exact inverse relationship with the difficulty of taking care of the kid.

Sigh.

Anyway...went to see "Marley & Me" last night for my birthday. Excellent show for a dog-lover who loves to write. It gave me an itch to start writing more again. Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree trying to get started on a novel. Maybe I should be looking for a gig as a columnist. That would be like blogging, only with deadlines and stuff. That could be seriously fun.

Labels: "Jake", Suki, Writing

posted by Dan @ 7:29 PM