Mama Bear doesn't hibernate

#5

Mama Bear doesn't just cook porridge and go for walks.

Until Ray and I became foster parents a few years ago, I'd never heard an angry protective mother described this way but I recognized her within myself immediately! My goodness, can she ever growl when provoked!

Our first foster daughter came to us in a flurry of excitement two years after we became empty-nesters. A friend of mine trained to counsel abused children and help them work through their pain saw a lot of kids in the foster care system. One afternoon she came to me and said there was a girl who needed to be in a different home ASAP and there was nobody to take her. We had a guest bedroom, and we had time. There was no reason other than laziness on our part that would prompt us to decline and every reason to say a hearty Yes! The case worker saw us that evening, we filled out the forms while she inspected our house for the safety features required, and we were approved by the next morning. I picked our daughter up the next afternoon and for nearly four months she got to enjoy being an only child and a 'kid' without having to look after her younger siblings. Just a few days before Christmas, she and her sisters were adopted together and we had the privilege of being part of that wonderful experience.

That year Mama Bear first showed up when I tackled getting glasses for her that would not only fit her face but look pretty. An assortment of plastic frames provided by welfare are available but not a single pair in her size was in the least bit feminine. Somehow putting a man's frame on her cute freckled face irritated me and I wasn't going to cave. Fortunately the Lion's Club came through for her and we got a pair she liked, what she would wear and a pair she wouldn't lose on purpose. The forty dollar difference between the welfare glasses and the pair she wanted was covered by a little known grant I found. Hooray for our girl!

Now that young lady is nineteen and she's in 'love' with a registered sex offender twice her age. I really hope I don't have to meet him face to face because I have no idea how Mama Bear will behave; it could get really ugly. My heart hurts for her as I contemplate the direction she's going. She seems happy enough living with him and his mother even though he has no steady job and few prospects. The limitations his felony conviction places on their choices doesn't compute for her yet. I'm so glad she still wants me in her life via Facebook. I want to be optimistic but for now, I'm holding my cards close to my chest as I wait to see how this hand plays out. For now, Mama Bear is simply pacing and watching and praying.

I have a sign in my kitchen that says, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." Sometimes I have to remind those around me about that and will give a warning if things are going a bad way. Seems they know right away when I say, "Mama isn't very happy!" that something better change pretty soon or I'm going to get very growly. (chuckle here)

Have you noticed that women have a certain look their family members recognize right away that shouts without words I DON"T LIKE THIS!! My mother has one and my sister has a look that cracks me up when I see it though I don't think she appreciates me laughing when she exhibits it. It just comes so naturally to mothers! I haven't seen my own 'look' but I'm pretty sure I have one too. I'm curious whether there's a DNA marker for that and won't be one bit surprised if there is. The good news is that the teenage girls now living here have only seen mine once and that was when Heidi came down to ask my opinion about an outfit she was considering wearing for school. I'm sure that disapproving Mama Bear look was unmistakable as I explained what I didn't like about the off-the-shoulder shiny blue top accompanied by several strands of beads on a 14 year old. I don't believe nightclub attire is appropriate for school and especially not on a ninth grader!

However, this Mama Bear was smiling tonight as she pulled a 13x9 pan of golden corn bread out of the new oven Tim & Lisa brought with them. More than two years without an oven in which I could actually bake something has prompted me to make a number of my favorite things this past week. Along with the chili that had simmered several hours in the slow cooker, I enjoyed three pieces of luscious corn bread smeared with real butter and grape jam. HEAVENLY!!

The Den is quiet now. The cubs are all sleeping and my heart is really full of all kinds of developing feelings for these people under my roof. Mama Bear lurks in readiness to defend her new cubs whenever necessary. Trouble better beware before coming around here!!

Instead of a Beware of Dog sign maybe I should put up a Beware of Mama Bear?