COLUMN: Everybody Calls Me Jana Banana

“Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all…he is the greatest.” ~Luke 9:48-49

Six teenagers entered the facility not knowing what to expect. They ranged in age from eighth grade to seniors in high school, and most had limited experience with babysitting at best. Yet, these six young people answered my request to help supervise a group of foster care children for a few hours while their foster parents attended a meeting the other night, and the memory of the evening will stay with me forever.

When Darlington County DSS foster care specialist Merri-Shannon Lunn asked if anyone would mind being on “baby patrol,” one young lady’s hand shot up immediately;  she claimed the first little toddler girl that entered the door. The baby had a very serious frown on her face, but after a while she began to soften her expression towards her new friend. By the end of the night she was displaying a wide smile and was communicating with the teen.

One tall teenager followed a little one around, carefully protecting him from bumping his head into corners of furniture and assisting him with toys and helping him from his many tumbles. “This kid cracks me up,“ he told me. “He falls, bumps his head and just gets right back up again!“ He grinned and shook his head in amazement, then turned quickly to make sure where the brave little fella had wandered off to.

Another young lady, who had originally told me that “kids really aren’t my thing, but I’ll help if you need me,” fell in love with a very independent 18-month-old baby girl with a winning smile that walked quickly from one end of the large meeting room to the other. This baby was a favorite of the pre-teen foster children, too, and they took turns playing with her too; my youth group teen assisted with other children, but always had her eye on “her” little girl, just waiting for another opportunity to carry her around and play with her.

One of the other teens had a way with the two-year-olds. “They are so funny!” he said and loaded them up one at a time into a plastic car to push about, rewarded by a squeal of happiness from each child as they took their turns. Two of the little boys on this car brigade talked to each other with the gibberish that only another two-year-old would understand, and both thought it was hilarious when I pretended to be surprised when they bumped into my legs with the car.

The eldest teen, a senior in high school who has a soft spot for children, really got me misty eyed. I watched him interact with the children, and for the entire three hours, he did not stop smiling. At one point, I did a double take as I watched him hold the six-month-old infant that everyone had taken turns playing with. It was the end of the evening, and the baby had just had a bottle and was starting to get sleepy. The baby, who had learned to trust of all the caregivers he’d had in his short lifetime, was looking up at the teen with a sweet and sleepy smile.

The sixth teen was the ringleader for all the older children, as she watched them put on a “show” complete with song and dance, and they all clamored around her like butterflies to a flower. “You guys rock!” she exclaimed, and they all beamed in return.

There are 119 children — 59 boys and 60 girls — in the Darlington County foster care system. Eighty-four are in foster homes, while others are classified as being in group or pre-adoptive homes. If you have room in your heart in your family to be a foster parent, please contact the Darlington County DSS office at: (843) 332-2231. There is a desperate need for respite providers for foster children at this time, to provide short term care for children awaiting placement, or when their foster family is on vacation or is hospitalized. 

As for my teenage helpers, what did they think of their experience? All of them asked, “Can we please do this again?” I can’t wait to, either.