I have wanted to interview a few moms about their unique children for awhile now, and I am thankful to be able to post the first of what will hopefully be many interviews of moms with children in special circumstances.
Paige is an incredibly special mother to me. She not only raised the boy that would become my husband, but she welcomed me into her family without fear or hesitation. I knew that marrying a man meant marrying his family, and I am lucky to have the love and support of Paige. I can truly call her, “friend”. Paige is an amazing gift giver (you should see her tree at Christmas)! She is constantly serving others and goes out of her way to make people feel special. She’s the type of person that figures out you love dachshunds, and will send you a massive care package to your dorm filled entirely with wiener-dog themed gifts. Not only is she a wonderful friend, but she is a fantastic Nana for my Zoe, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Please enjoy my interview with Paige about her youngest son, Colton. Colton was adopted into the Christison family as an infant. The first time I met Colton, he called me by Kylar’s ex-girlfriend’s name with the intention of embarrassing Kylar. It worked. The first time I babysat him, he showed me that he could tell me a country’s name just by looking at his shape. He could even tell me their capitols (keep in mind, he was four at the time). To this day, I have never met a more intelligent, more curious child. Colton has had many ups and downs, but his parents work every day to make sure he has the tools to succeed. I know he will grow up to be a confident, loving, passionate adult.
Tell me a little about yourself. I am a follower of Christ, I am a wife, I am a mother, and–oh my goodness–I am a Nana! I am a teacher by trade, but have spent most of my adult life using that skill at home and church. Greg sometimes calls me a professional volunteer. I can be too controlling and have too high of expectations of others and myself, though I do think I have improved on this in the last 10 years.
You have always impressed me with your drive and your ability to get things done. I envy that! Next question: What is your favorite thing about being a mom? I love the “firsts”, the first wave, the first word, the first soccer game, the first backflip, the first best friend, the first date, the first glimpse of who they are becoming. The firsts never end, not even after they are grown, and I think that’s why I love them. There is always another one around the corner.
That’s something I have grown to love as well. It’s been so much fun watching Zoe experience things for the first time. What is something you do well as a parent? That is a tough one because often I will think, “I am rocking this,” only to look back and see I am not as awesome as I thought. It is a constant learning and evolving process. If I had to choose something (this scares me – what if my kids totally disagree) I would
probably say being there for my kids, to talk, to listen, or just support them.
I don’t think Kylar would disagree. He always looks forward to talking to you when he has something on his mind. I know it’s something that is very special to him. I know Courtney and Colton enjoy sharing their lives with you as well. Now, what made you and Greg decide to start fostering? It wasn’t just one thing but several that built on each other: ultimately it was God. I know that sounds cheesy, but it was God that put the experiences in my life that led up to that point when we decided to foster. First, Greg’s parents had done it and we talked about following their lead before we were even married. Experiences with his extended family just strengthened that goal. The series of events that put it in motion was our move to Fairview. The house was perfect for fostering because it had two bedrooms downstairs. Courtney and Kylar were old enough to understand and were on board with the idea. What really kept pushing me was a commercial by an adoption group that I heard on the radio. It played every time I got in the car. At the end of the commercial, they would say, “YOU can make a difference”. I felt like God was talking to me every time. I could not ignore Him any longer while we waited for the “perfect time”. If you wait for everything to be just so-so in your life, it will never happen. God knew it was the perfect time.
Wow. I love that. Did you and Greg always want to adopt? The simple answer is no, but I am not sure that is really how I felt. I did try to convince myself that what I wanted was to be there for these littles while their parents couldn’t. Our first placement was easy because we felt so strongly that he should go home. We didn’t and still don’t believe there was any abuse caused by the parents. That sweet boy had an unusually large head that caused him to be very unstable and fall a lot. Our 2nd placement was a brother and sister and it was really HARD! We had no true information about either child and it was a real struggle the first 48 hours. That was a really hard placement and removal for all of us. Greg wanted to be done at that point because it was so difficult emotionally on Courtney and Kylar. But God knew we were not done. Shortly after the siblings left, we started getting calls for newborns. John [Colton] was actually the 4th baby they had called us about. The others were placed before we could even reply. It was difficult for
me because I was afraid God was telling me that Greg was right and we should stop, but then there was Johnny [Colton]. He had been with us for about 5 months, when one day, I walked into the office holding him. I asked Greg what he was doing, and his response shocked me. He said, “I am researching countries without extradition because he is not going anywhere”. I remember the release that rolled through my body. I had tried so hard to be everything Johnny [Colton] needed without losing my heart to him. Now I had permission to do what I had already done: love him with everything within me. Well, that was way more than your question asked, sorry.
No! It was perfect. Adoption is such a beautiful thing, and I am so glad that Colton became a part of your family. What was the most difficult part of Colton’s adoption? WAITING, WAITING, AND WAITING some more …
There were lots of speed bumps along the way. For example, CPS said they planned on sending him back to his bio mom. It was difficult to wait for CPS to rule out all possible family/friends for placement, and then his bio dad claimed custody from jail. Ultimately, he requested a jury trial. Waiting has always been hard for me, it is certainly a weakness of mine.
Waiting is difficult for me, too. I’m sure it’s especially hard during the adoption process. What advice do I have for young parents who want to foster/adopt?Pray a lot, and be in complete agreement with your spouse. One parent can’t be effective doing it alone, and it will develop resentment towards each other. Don’t forget to still take time to be with God and with each other. It can be overwhelming at times, and you need to get back to your roots (God and spouse) to recharge. It will be a blessing to your life that you never expected.
How has Colton affected Kylar and Courtney? Well that has been all over the map and different for both of them. I think fostering opened their eyes to a part of the real world they had not experienced before. I hope he has taught them to love unconditionally, even when it is hard. I hope they have learned that everyone has a story and you don’t usually know what it is, so don’t judge people by their actions. As humans that is hard to do because that is what the world does around us. Colton could have been hitting, screaming, and destroying things for what looked like no real reason, but there was always something behind the anger. With him, it was usually fear. I hope they have learned that every person needs and deserves love, no matter how hard it is.
I think Colton affected Courtney differently than Kylar because she was still living at home through the most difficult time. It was also during my [traumatic brain injury] recovery in 2012, and she was literally taking care of our every need. During that time, she did what had to be done and just tried to get through it all. She had been the baby for 11 years and was very comfortable in that role. When Colton came along, he took that from her. Deep down, there was probably some resentment. Not completely because of Colton, but because she “lost” most of her senior year of high school. Everything revolved around Colton. If I could change one thing in our family dynamics it would be that Colton and Courtney would show each other that they are loved by the other. I know they love each other, I just wish they would let it show.
How has parenting changed from Kylar and Colton?
It is hard to discern if the differences are because of how things have changed in our society, or because Colton is a different person. He has different challenges, different interests, different needs, and different family social interactions (like small groups at church).
For one, Greg and I are older, and my physical health is not what it was 14 years earlier. Keeping Colton safe from the dangers of the outside world is much harder with the increased availability of the internet through all kinds of electronics. The ease of cyber bulling and all the information that is just one click away is frightening. Colton not having a sibling close in age has changed things too; he’s basically an only child. Our church has changed, which has changed the our areas of involvement. Our friends no longer have children his age–in fact they are all empty nesters. Courtney and Kylar made friends with the children of our friends, because that is who we spent time with. Courtney and Kylar were used to frequently having others in our home, both kids and adults. Colton hasn’t experienced that since he was a toddler. We no longer have the connections at church that we once did. Colton’s disabilities changed the way we lived our lives. We didn’t go to places that were loud or crowed, like we did with Courtney and Kylar. We didn’t leave him with a babysitter like we did Courtney and Kylar. Vacations were different too… It was not adopting Colton that changed things so much as it was the careless actions of his biological mother. She unfairly put Colton in a position where he would have to overcome challenges in his life that were a result of her selfish actions.
He’s doing a great job overcoming these disabilities. I know everyone works so hard to give him every tool he could ever need. He’s such a smart and sensitive kid, and I am thankful to call him family. Before we wrap up, do you mind telling me a story about Kylar as a child? My favorite story about Kylar was when we moved to McKinney. He was 3 ½ yrs old. The lawn at the house we bought had been very neglected for a long time. The weeds in the backyard had grown to Kylar’s height. He would stand in the doorway looking over the backyard and with songbook in hand he would lead signing to his congregation of weeds. When Greg finally bought a lawn mower, Kylar was devastated that Greg had mowed down his audience.