“If an egg is in your nest, you sit on it and keep it warm. It doesn’t matter whose egg it is.”
It’s an emotion without a name.
This egg is in your nest.
You sit on it.
You keep it warm.
It’s a fierce fighting for the youngster in your home.
He is yours.
And yet,
its not your egg.
It’s a letting go as he is parented by his biological family or governed by the state.
It’s the fact that you are raising someone else’s child and you have to be okay with that,
but it’s your nest, and in your nest, it doesn’t matter who’s egg it is, you will keep it warm.
That’s why I love P.D. Eastman’s book Flap Your Wings and highly encourage you to click here and purchase it.
I’ve read it over and over and over again and I continue to be amazed at how well he portrays foster care.
Its all there.
In a three minute read that even a toddler will love. Because who doesn’t want to see an alligator hatch from an egg and perch in a bird’s nest.
But the underlying theme is very clear:
If you are a child in our home we will take care of you. We will teach you. We will be excited about you and for you because you are first and foremost a valuable human being, and because you are part of this family.
It’s so matter-of-fact. It’s just the way it is to Mr. Bird and that is what I love about this book so much.
He’s in our nest, so he must be ours,” said Mr. Bird.
“…he’s hungry. When you’re baby is hungry you feed him.”
Now, I must say, there is one drawback to the story. The mom is the foil.
That was a bit of a letdown when I first read it because, let’s face it, our children have “mommy issues”. They just do. So, to see the mom being the one always raising the questions and the dad always reassuring her was a slight niggle under my skin.
You know,” said Mrs. Bird, “I don’t think Jr. was a bird at all.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Mr. Bird said. “He’s happy now.”
However, this book was just so very good that I am still willing to read it with my children again and again. In so doing, I realized that even this issue could be used to my advantage. Its a great way to openly discuss my children’s view of me as their foster mom and mistrust issues they might have. That is why I wholeheartedly recommend you click here and purchase this book. You will get many, many uses from it no matter what age your children are.
You’ll Also Like Reading:
Three Reasons We are Beginning Attachment Therapy and Why You Might Want to Also
Sometimes We Kick Trust in the Teeth and He Invites us Back In
Free Attachment Resource:
Fostering a secure relationship with your kiddos is oh, so important! Here are 4 elements of a secure attachment and activities to establish it with your children. Put your email address here and “click” so I can send it to you.
(Note: I created the image using Pic Monkey’s free photo editing website. Check them out here. This post may also contain affiliate links. For more information, read my Disclosure Policy here.)
