Tacky or Ok?

So I mentioned in my last post that I had registered on Walmart for some items I still need but quite frankly can't really afford to get right now. My husband seems to think that it is tacky to do so.  It's not that I really expect people to buy us stuff, although I'm sure several people would like to help foster kids but aren't really ready to open their homes yet. I just thought, hey why not? It takes a village right?

Let me break down the financial side of foster care for you, because you often hear that people are in it for the money. The classes and home study are free. To pass the home study you have to have outlet covers, a large fire extinguisher, smoke alarms, baby gate for stairs, locked (not just child proofed) medicine and fire arms. We also had to purchase a door and lock for our pool. This is all at your own expense. So far so good right, I mean most of that stuff you probably have or should have anyways.

Now that your house is ready you have to prepare the space for the child. You receive your license based on the amount of available beds that you have. So if you want to have 2 kids then you need two beds to be licensed for that. We chose 2 kids ages 0-5, which means that us having a crib and a twin bed is fine. It also means that if we get a 4 and 5 year old that we will need to buy another t twin sized bed ASAP.

That is it, according to children's services you are ready to be placed with kids. Perfect right? Oh wait you chose an age group that requires a car seat...sorry that comes out of pocket. Let's see that is 2 kids times 2 cars so 4 car seats. You can wait to buy those until you get a placement but honestly car seat shopping for 4 car seats while kids are waiting to be picked up sounds like too much fun for this girl. Not to mention they range from $30-$150 for a decent one. I am a little high maintenance so I purchased a few things that the kids probably won't have when they come such as: toothbrushes, toothpaste, baby wash, baby lotion, wipes, matching bedding, plastic drawers for their clothes, sippy cups, baby spoons and forks, an extra set of sheets, and a few toys. I told you, high maintenance, right?

Now I know what you are thinking, "Don't you get paid for foster care?" Yes, you are right! If this is the child's first placement you get $150 to buy their clothes with. That's everything from shoes to undies to actual clothes. Now if they are temporarily in a group home before you get the call then they may have already used the money and you just get what is passed to you. I am a bargain  shopper so that terrifies me about how quickly it could be used on very little. Same thing if they are moved to you from another foster home. You also get around $200 to $300 a month depending on the type of placement. That is not paid upfront and typically takes about a month to start. Let me just say that doesn't go very far at all but obviously that isn't why we are doing this. 

I hope this doesn't come across as unhappy with the way it works or guilting people for help. I mean we did chose to go this route...well we didn't chose infertility but we chose obedience to the call to foster. We also know that as God calls He also provides. So that brings me to my question, "What do you think about a foster parent registering on a baby registry?" Please comment I would love to hear your thoughts on this whether you are a foster parent or not. I don't want to be tacky if this is socially unacceptable but it would be nice to have a little help.