Six kids in one house will make a mom busy

The other night one of my sisters called from Colorado, and about 10 seconds into our talk, the phone beeped, signaling there was another person trying to break into the conversation.

She knew exactly who it was - our mother - so I realized that my sister had some big news. I had a vision of my mother dialing my number frantically - like someone trying to win tickets to a concert by being the ninth caller to a radio station - for the prize of being the first to tell me whatever it was my sister was up to.

It turned out to be something that bordered on being old news, actually.

My sister and her husband, an officer with the Colorado Highway Patrol, had been trying to adopt a trio of siblings who have been in the foster-care system for 18 months after the parents' rights were terminated. Three families wanted the children and originally another family was given first chance at them.

Then that family decided they didn't want the children after all and my sister's family was told they could have them. She expects they'll be living full-time in her home by the end of this month.

My sister is elated; the rest of our family is a bit more wary. She has four children already, ages 18, 8, 7 and 3, two of whom she home-schools. The boy and two girls she and her husband plan to adopt are ages 6, 4 and 3.

The oldest, the boy, has three major medical issues. His eyesight is poor from something called septo optic dysplasia, he has seizures, and he can't produce any of his own growth hormone, so has to be given shots.

Most of us go through life making decisions that seem big - where you're going to college, whom you're going to marry, where you're going to live, what to order from a restaurant menu - but still leave you with a fair bit of control. To offer to take three children with shaky backgrounds into your home all at once, permanently, is a risk that few even think sane.

The rest of our family already has gone through wondering how this was going to affect my sister and her family. It was hard to be truly optimistic, and I don't think any of us were disappointed when the children were originally going to be placed elsewhere.

But now that they are likely to be part of the extended family, it seems the best thing to do is to praise the practically saintly intentions of my sister and her husband, and acknowledge that of all mothers who can handle three extra kids, it's my sister.

My mother has predicted that my sister's life is for all practical purposes over once the children arrive, but for my sister, three more children only gives her the opportunity to do three times more of what she loves most, which is being a mother.

I love being a mother too, but also love the juxtaposition of time with my children vs. having some freedom to pursue my own interests, and two teenagers still allows for that.

With six children at home under age 8, my sister probably won't have much time for anything else - the triathlon training she has been pursuing in recent years, washing her hair, eating.

It's easy to expect the worst, but then again, the world needs people who are willing to take a chance with so much enthusiasm.

It's always easy to say someone else should do it, but once in a while, it's good to be that sacrificing person - or at least be closely related.

Reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4431 or by e-mail at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com