Forever Family

First, I need to set the record straight.

I don’t particularly care for Barbara Streisand or Celine Dion.  I don’t really like any of those types of singers, especially the likes of Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston.  I acknowledge that they are very talented women, but to me a good song is about more than talent.  In my opinion, these women try too hard.

I don’t connect with a song if it includes elements that are there strictly to showcase the performer’s range.  I feel it distracts from the real meaning and emotion of the music.  When I hear Mariah Carey do her scales and vocal trickery, I may appreciate the difficulty of doing that, but it still sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me.  I think she gives melisma a bad name.

Have you seen Amadeus ?  There is a line in there that Salieri says regarding Mozart.  He criticizes Mozart for using too many notes, and that there is beauty in simplicity.  I don’t necessarily agree in Mozart’s case, but I wish some of these modern day crooners would take that to heart.   

Sometimes I wonder if all that yodeling deprives them of oxygen for too long.  In my opinion, music only has one place for divas, and that’s in opera.  Oooo…here’s an idea for Celebrity Death Match .  Maria Callas vs. Mariah Carey.  No contest, Maria is the ultimate diva.  Mariah is just a wannabe.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s continue where we left off yesterday.

Yes, the mysterious pile ‘o’ parents and creating a new family.  

They begin whittling down the list based on the straightforward facts of the case.  Obviously, if I want an infant and the child being presented is 12 years old, I’m immediately set aside.  This continues until a short list is created.

If multiple sets of parents are found to be a match, then a meeting happens with all the DFACS personnel involved in the case.  As we were told, they literally sit down with all the files and pick which one might be the best fit.  

Once you’re matched, then you get the happy phone call.  However, just because you’ve been matched, you don’t need to accept the placement.  At this point, they will schedule a meeting with you and the social workers and likely even the child (if the situation permits).  In our meeting, we had the training worker, our worker, Kiddo’s worker, the foster parent who currently was caring for Kiddo, and little Kiddo himself.  

Seeing the child before making a decision is a double edged sword.  Usually they will give you a choice, because DFACS realizes that it’s VERY hard to say no once you’ve seen that angelic little face.  Usually it’s not until that meeting when you get the real nitty gritty on the case.  The social workers will apprise you of the legal risk situation.  There is also more details shared about the health of the child.

I actually don’t remember hearing much about this at our meeting.  Why?  Because I was holding Kiddo.  He was so tiny, and I was so worried that I might break him.  All I could do was stare at him.  Holding him felt like I had suddenly been completed.  He was MY child…and I just knew it!  He looked so much like me when I was a child, and then there was the name thing.  I was falling in love and obsessing over whether or not I was holding him right.

I was also extremely intimidated.  His foster mom frightened the beejeebers out of me.  I had never been a mom, and was scared to death as it was.  In comes this woman, and she absolutely oozed maternal instinct.  I was worried that she was judging my motherhood skills.  The more I worried, the clumsier I became.  By the end of the visit, she announced that Kiddo needed a diaper.  She offered to let me do it.  All I could do was shake my head.  She shrugged, and then I SWEAR she had that diaper changed in the blink of an eye.  I have never seen a diaper changed that fast.  This woman should compete!

Can you see the danger here?  Had I really been listening to the details of the case, I might have protected myself from some heartache later on…or at least been better prepared for the roller coaster.  I was distracted and not focused.  A lesson learned for next time. 

So to be fair, I should mention that it’s not just the female divas that annoy me.  I don’t like the men, either.  Josh Groban comes to mind.  He’s not my cup of tea.

Oh, and you should click on the little opera singer.  I think that is still my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon.

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