My daughters' sister

I had one of those surreal experiences today that only happen to families who are built in non-traditional ways. My adopted daughters' little sister spent the day with us. Their bio mom and her boyfriend were both working and their usual sitter needed a day off. So, Alli left home at 7:00 this morning to go pick her up from her bio mom's house. She's the only one of the bio mom's six kids who still lives with her. Over the years, DCS has actually called me a couple of time to see if I would take her because they were considering removing her from her mother. Each time, though, they were able to put safety measures in place and left her home. I do have to admit the mom seems stable at this point and the little girl is doing fine.

She's 5 years old and quite a handful. However, we planned the day around her and it went well. They attempted to build a gingerbread house from a kit. It didn't go well. There was a tragic roof collapse that led to a whole house collapse. It spent the rest of the day lying in a pile on the table with the kids breaking a chunk off as they walked by. I guess the idea of the project was the process and not the product. If so, they were successful. A good time was had by all.

My girls have never lived with this sister. She has a different father than my girls. She was an infant when Alli moved in with me. Alli had a few visits with the mom and infant but those didn't last long. By the time Beth joined us, we didn't have any contact with bio mom. She did have two visits with bio mom when Little Sis was a toddler but, again, this didn't last long and I'm sure Little Sis has no memory of them. She is well aware that they are her sisters now. I guess this has been rekindled by Alli's frequenting the bio mom's house. As weird as the situation is, I don't mind having the kid around. She is fun. It's nice to spend a day with someone who likes princesses and Easy Bake Ovens. Bottom line: Family is family and it is important, especially for kids who know from experience that not all families are forever.