MIKA: ON BEING A NEW FOSTER PARENT + FINDING COMMUNITY ONLINE + BEING "JUST" A FOSTER FAMILY
Mika Beggs is a biological and step mom and a brand new foster mama. She and her houseful of testosterone have accepted one placement so far. She shares about the newness of foster care, transitioning to the foster parenting life, and walking through all the surprising emotions. We talk social media and finding community online, as well as foster-to-adopt and just pain foster-to-foster. I twist a scene from This is Us into a deep, life lesson (spoiler alert: she. doesn't. watch. this. is. us.), she tells a Jersey girl that she eats Little Caesars Pizza, and it all ends up ok in the end.
• The intro song, The Source, is brought to you by one of the best new worship bands out there, The Evidence. Yes, the frontman is my (talented, brilliant, adorable, Jesus-loving) cousin. No, that's not why I love them.
• We talk inviting the state into your home. You can read my musings on this in my post, Meet the State.
• If you're looking for an online community, feel free to join the Foster the Family Foster Parent Support Page. Chances are one of our 14,000+ members can help answer your question.
• If you, too, find yourself picking up a baby from the hospital, you might find the post, “What to Expect” When You're...Picking Up a Foster Baby From the Hospital, helpful.
• I'm having a hard time linking to Mika's rather broad category of "trashy romance novels." If you're looking to step out of the trashy-romance-novel genre to sweet-and-silly-andcryyourfaceoff, I highly recommend The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. Also, you know, Ryan Gosling.
• Nearly every episode, we talk The Connected Child. I'm pretty much evangelistic about this book. If you haven't read it, attended an Empowered to Connect Simulcast, or been introduced to Karyn Purvis + TBRI, check it out now.
• Mika loves pizza and beer. She drinks the good old American standards. My favorite beer these days is the Dogfish Head Flesh & Blood IPA. Dogfish famously makes some of the greatest IPAs. I love my IPA with a punch of citrus. This one is made with the "flesh" of lemon and "blood" orange juice. Good stuff, friends.
• We talk Gilmore Girls. I can't believe there's a GG fan out there who hasn't watched the re-boot, but if this is you, too, you have to watch the Netflix special "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life." My entire adult family sat down and watched it in one sitting.
• Mika is a podcast junkie. She recommends The Joe Rogan Experience, The Harshe Podcast, and The Dave Ramsey Show.
