Don’t know Tulip? Her story begins here.
Tulip settles into her new home while I’m on vacation in Central America. Her mom, “Ann”, sends me messages periodically updating me on her progress: Tulip took a walk with her adoptive sister (I’ll call her Ridley); Ridley keeps barking at her but Tulip’s being great; Ann, Ridley, and Tulip all slept in the same room without incident (albeit with Tulip in the crate).
Ann is taking it slow, which is necessary, and seems smitten with Tulip. It makes my heart happy.
Every day in Costa Rica, I see dogs with no collars running down streets and roads. Why are they all running? I want to pick them up, but then what? It makes my heart heavy.
My friends keep telling me that I’m to take a break from fostering—I loved Tulip, yes, they say, but it’s been too stressful. And they’re right. I know they’re right. I need to decompress. I need to snuggle with Violet and Redford.
But it’s a struggle. Carolina Care Bullies needs fosters all the time. And adoptive families. They post about this dog:
She is three to six months old. And a tripod.
And I want her. I don’t just want to foster her—I want her to be mine mine mine.
But even though I want to say yes, I think I have to say no this time. For my dogs. For my friends’ dogs, who I want to be able to babysit. For my finances. For my sanity. For the sake of other things I want to do and pursue. So I can say yes to those things.
So when CCB asks if I’ll foster again, which I’m sure they will, I will tell them regretfully no.
I hope I can say no.
try, no, not yet.
in a little while.
i promise.
that might be easier.
Amen to Margo’s suggestions–also:
I need a break right now
Let me think about it for the spring
You need some time to fill up your heart and soul again.
You did a great job with Tulip & saw her through all the ups & downs until she found a forever home. Mission accomplished! I took 3 months off between fosters #3 & 4, gave our own dogs lots of attention, took a vacation, etc – it was necessary and wonderful, even though I did feel guilty about doing it at the time.
Amy, you should be proud of yourself. Tulip is in a happy home and you did about 500% with her. My last dog was a rescue that had been abused, and it took us about 6 months until we both compromised and settled in. She was the best dog ever, quirks and all, and she was devoted to me for the rest of her life. I’ll tell you though, there was a period of time of about 3 months where I had to talk myself out of giving her back to the shelter. I just kept telling myself that that’s what her people had always done and I was not going to do that to her too. I still miss her, and I have another dog now I adore. Great job, and you deserve a break. You’ll know when it’s time to try again.