Have you voted on the poll question yet?

I noticed a significant lack of any of us voting for putting our $ 5,000.00 in the savings account. It's an interesting amount of money isn't it? Not enough to go really crazy with, but enough to have some fun with.

I have this little fantasy that some long lost relative that I've never met would leave me a gazillion dollars. Yeah, not likely to happen but I can dream.

Money is such a huge factor in adoptive families isn't it? From the very beginning money enters into our decision to adopt. Do you have money or can you borrow enough? Then you have many more options when it comes to adopting a child, especially an infant. You can choose to adopt internationally through an agency, or you can even choose to adopt a low-risk infant from an agency. Don't have access to money? Well then you can adopt through MCFD. But why does that seem to be second or third best, or as a last resort? Whether we like to admit it or not, generally speaking, international/infant adoptions are looked upon with greater acceptance than to adopt a child from foster care. Which is so sad. All children deserve permanency.

Has anyone ever asked you "So how much did he cost?" And have you wanted to punch that person in the mouth? Hopefully you managed to contain yourself and answer with a polite response such as "He's priceless." But everyone knows and acknowledges that there is a financial price for adoption, not to mention the emotional price. (But that's a topic for another day's blogging.)

And then there's the conversations we need to have, or will have someday with our children and the financial cost of adoptions.

I may be digressing a bit (cause, like, that never happens with me), but don't you hate all those "Adopt-A..." campaigns? It drives me crazy that businesses and organizations think that throwing money at a worthy cause is the same as adoption. Yeah yeah I know it doesn't bother everyone. We're all adults and we get what they're trying to do. But what about our kids? They don't have the ability or the capacity of their brain functioning on an adult level. And because adoption is a very abstract concept for kids to understand, how can they possibly get adopting a road is not the same as adopting a child? Although kids who have been adopted may understand that their families are forever but what about all the kids who are waiting for adoptive homes? Do they look at those Adopt-A-Street campaigns and think.."Gee, I wonder why someone will adopt a street but they won't adopt me? I'm better than a street. Arn't I?"

Ok, so I digressed. But speaking of money and adoption, my kids are all very close in age - only two years between all three of them. And each one of them have such different levels of understanding of money and its uses. For example, one of my kids will save and save and save until more than enough money is saved for whatever the wanted item is. Then another child would spend the money as fast as it comes in if they had their way. And my other child who has no connection whatsoever to how long it takes to save up for something. Nothing matters to this child, so there's no real heartbreak when they have to replace a sibling's toy that they broke. Can you guess which child suffers the most from FASD? Yup, the last one I mentioned.

The other two "get" the concept of "when the money is gone, the money is gone". Not the FASD child. And from what I understand from other parents of kids with FASD, this is one of the hardest concepts for kids to grasp.

Do you give your kids an allowance for doing specific chores around the house? Or are they given money for helping out but it's not tied to chores or behavior? Some of my kids' friends get a good stash of cash for getting A's on their report cards. Man, I feel sorry for the other kids in those families who many never be able to get an A but still work their butts off for a C+.

Which now that I think about it, reminds me of those bumper stickers that say something like "Proud parent of an honor roll student". I hate those too. My kids may never make the honor roll but I'm just as proud of them. One mom I know got this bumper sticker "My dog is smarter than your honor roll kid any day!" Now that one I like!