10/12/2026
I had a baby bathtub and a crib.
I had been a licensed foster parent for almost 2 months and had only done respite care for a 13 year old boy.
While I waited on a call from DCS saying that she was on the way, my friends dropped off clothes, formula - my best friend drove to friends’ houses and picked up items. It was truly a team effort.
I had nannied, LOVED babies and felt very comfortable around littles. I had done the trainings. I was “technically” ready.
But, there was something that happened when the social worker pulled up to the curb at my apartment building.
I looked at her and she said, “You can get her out.”
She handed me a diaper bag and said, She ate at 7.” That was it. The whole exchange took maybe 45 seconds.
It was 8:30pm. All of a sudden, I was totally and completely responsible.
An instant parent. I’d never been a mom before.
She ate at 7. But there was no one to tell me what her schedule should be. Me: ok, how often do newborns eat? How do you make bottles again? Whats the ratio for formula?
She smelled like maple syrup. Like, not a good kind of sweet maple syrup. Like - terrible air freshener maple syrup and she was in a giant yellow nightgown.
Petrified, with the help of my best friend, I gave her a quick bath and got her in a onesie. Frantically googling - how often should a one-week old eat?
I’m telling you all of this because this was my entry into motherhood. This is how I became a mom. An October night, in an exchange that took less than a minute.
People think becoming a mom always looks like a pregnancy announcement.
Or a hospital room.
Or months of preparation.
Sometimes…it looks like standing in a parking lot at 8:30pm holding a diaper bag and a whispering a terrified prayer.
And somehow…that scared single woman in the apartment became her mom anyway.
PS. This was 6 years ago today. I did not share her face publicly while she was in custody. I share glimpses of our story now to encourage everyone to look into supporting kids in foster care - there are currently over 300,000 in foster care in the US.
