February 14, 2023 • 22 mins
Layla Whittenburg joins us to talk about being in the foster care system as well as what it is like to be adopted. Layla very candidly and honestly talks about her life experiences and the difficulties and blessings of adoption and foster care. Layla is a GREAT interview, so do yourself a favor- tune in and listen to what this young lady has to say. And, as always, never forget to embrace your inner weirdo.
If you enjoy our podcast, please tell your friends about it and drop us a like or two. If you REALLY enjoy our podcast, a review would also be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Contact Mr. B: mbridges@almasd.net
If you enjoy our podcast, please tell your friends about it and drop us a like or two. If you REALLY enjoy our podcast, a review would also be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Contact Mr. B: mbridges@almasd.net
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Can I just say that I lovequirky, strong, resilient kids with just
the right amount of spunk and sarcasm, and you're getting ready to meet one
today. My name is Michael Bridges, and this is the Hey What's Your
Deal? Podcast? Ladies and gentlemen. I'm not even gonna make excuses this
(00:35):
time. We're behind schedule. We'realways going to be behind schedule. That's
just how it's gonna be. I'mgonna try and get these out to you
as soon as I can. I'mlining kids up. We're gonna get more
recorded, and we'll get more intoyour ears just as soon as we can,
I promise you. Once again,welcome to the only GT podcast that
(00:55):
has the nerve, the audacity,and the unmitigated gall to just come right
out and ask, Hey, what'syour deal? Once again, I am
your host, Michael Bridges. Iam the GT coordinator for the Alma School
District, also serve as the APcoordinator, and this is the Hey What's
Your Deal? Podcast? It hasbeen crazy around here. It is always
(01:19):
crazy around here, but it's especiallycrazy today because it's Valentine's Day and there
are parties going on. We're doinglike national play day makeup today because we
missed it because of an eye storm. Pray for your teachers, Pray for
your teachers. It's it's this isthis is wartime. This is wartime.
UM. They're gonna make it,but I see it in their eyes.
(01:42):
You know they're they're they're struggling,but they will make it because they're they're
resilient. God bless them. GodspeedUM Again. We're getting ready before we
kick everything off, I just wantto do a quick plug. Next week
will be the agate UM conference inLittle Rock. I will be attending along
(02:02):
with several other GT coordinators, GTteachers, some GT students will be there.
I was blessed enough to where Igot recognized for a GT Educator award,
So I'm going to be recognized andmy wife's going to be able to
like go with me and attend theluncheon, so that's really cool. And
I'm also going to be presenting thatFriday on critical thinking and teaching philosophy to
(02:24):
elementary school students. So I've gota whole program there that I'm going to
do. So if you're a GTcoordinator, GT teacher and you don't know
about AGET, I would highly encourageyou to, you know, fill in
a membership. If it's too latefor you to go this year, I
would highly encourage you to go nextyear. It's one of the things as
(02:45):
a GT teacher and coordinator that Ireally look forward to. So again,
that starts on Tuesday of next weekand goes through Friday. Like I said,
I'll be presenting on Friday, theyhave the luncheon on Thursday, and
then they'll all sorts of great breakoutsessions on Friday. So I would highly
suggest that you attend if you areable. So today on the podcast,
(03:08):
I've got a pretty interesting treat foryou. One of our students, Layla
Whittenberg, who you're going to hear, is a new student. She came
to us earlier this year, comesfrom foster care and has been adopted,
so she's a child of the fostercare system, has been adopted into a
new family, and she when Iasked her, you know, to maybe
(03:30):
come up with a topic, thisis what she came up with. And
I was really impressed that she hadthe guts to come out and speak about
it. So we got it clearedwith her parents to make sure it was
okay for her to come and talk. So, without further ado, I
present to you Laylah Wittenberg and herdeal yingle yingle jingle bells. Okay,
(04:05):
do you do you want to tellpeople why I am playing jingle bells in
like early mid February because I havethe temptation to get ready for Christmas eleven
months before. Are you Are youan elf? No? No, you
do have you do have a crazyfascination with bells though, right, yes,
(04:29):
yes, you're not a cat?Are you? You're not like a
furry You're not You're not You're notclaiming you're a cat or something like that,
right, okay, okay, okay, and you're sar not an elf?
Do you like eat like spaghetti andmaple syrup and stuff like that altogether
mixed with pop tarts? I haveno comment on that. Have you ever
seen Elf? The movie Elf withWill Ferrell? Yes, okay, that's
(04:50):
what That's what he eats. That'swhat he eats, eats like the the
the pop tarts and syrup and sugar. I do have an insane love you.
Do you bring pop tarts? Yes? Well, we're kind of getting
off track here, everybody, thisis uh, Laila Wittenberg say hi,
(05:11):
Leila. Oh look she's she's surebon jour, oh a little French,
a little fancy. Um. SoLaila is new to our GT program.
She came this year and I testedher. And when she came she was
so shy she wouldn't even look mein the eye and everything. And now
she's like, Gary me, no, how am I scary? You're just
(05:35):
you look scary. Seeing Now mywife's gonna listen to this and she's gonna
be like, yeah, I toldyou see you look, you look like
you're terrifying. Kids are kids arefrightened. W I'm a nice guy.
I'm a nice guy. But um, Laila, as you can tell,
um, has the gift of sarcasm, as do I. It's true,
(05:55):
it's true. I say that asa compliment. So this this episode will
be fairly sarcastic. So just asa warning, there will be sarcasm going
on. Sarcasm self test complete.So just wanted to let you know that
there will be some sarcasm here,not on my end, totally on Laylah's
because she just tell us. Allright. So Layla, Layla came to
us, you know, at thebeginning of the year, and like I
(06:16):
said, she was. She wasrather shy. I didn't know if she
would talk, and she's just comeon and she's done our morning show and
we do morning announcements here and she'sgotten on and spoken. And when I
told her about this podcast, Ithought she had a really really interesting topic
because a lot of the times onhere we do uh haha, laughy fun
(06:38):
stuff and this is gonna be abit more serious. So Layla, why
don't you go ahead and tell themwhat is your deal foster care and adoption
because you have come through the fostercare system and you're adopted, right,
which I thought was totally cool becausewhen she first brought it to me,
I was like, are you sureyou want to talk about that? That's
kind of a heavy topic. Ohyeah, absolutely, So I think this
(07:00):
can be a great topic that we'regetting ready to discuss, and I think
Layla's going to do an excellent job. So can you and you don't have
to go into, you know,super duper detail, but can you tell
us a little bit more about yourexperience with like foster care and adoption and
things things like that. I waslike about I was baby and baby when
before I got into foster care,I was about like six months old when
(07:25):
I got into foster care. Okay. Um, I was there for about
like six months Okay in foster care, okay, and my mom and dad
wanted to adopt me and to othersibling, to my other So I'm correct
and assuming that, Um, yourmom and dad they were just they weren't
(07:49):
looking to adopt, right. Didn'tyou tell me that they weren't necessarily looking
to adopt. They had lots ofother kids in their home at the time,
like a lot. Like when yousay a lot, how many is
a lot? Like it does somethinglike come and go? But they were
about like a hundred kids that theyhad, wow, just off and on.
(08:11):
Not like they don't live in ahuge Buckingham Palace castle, I would
imagine, but lots of kids,okay, Um. And I mean,
I know I'm kind of getting youto speak for them. But was this,
um like a calling that they had? Did they want to help out
kids? Do you know why whythey were doing that? I really don't
know because of how young I was. Um, I don't think they've ever
(08:31):
told me before, but I thinkthey just, like I know my mom
has talked about it before, butI think she just like felt the need
to like help kids that don't getthe help that they need. That's awesome,
that's awesome. That's that's great.That's really awesome. So you you
went to them when you were alittle baby, so you've been with them
(08:52):
forever forever, so they're they're prettymuch what you know. Yeah, okay,
all right, um, but youdid tell me that you've lived in
quite a few different places, right, So what are some of the places
that you've lived, because you've you'vemoved around quite a bit. Uh So,
at first I lived in Elkins,Arkansas, and then after that my
parents split up, um, andthen I moved which Elkins is the place
(09:16):
that they did foster care and everything, okay. And then after that I
moved to Missouri Joplin with my nana, and then once we can get our
own house, we moved to webCity, Missouri, okay. And then
after that moved to Bentonville, okay. And after that here okay, okay,
And you got back with your yourparents your no, no, but
(09:41):
I lived with my mom and nowI live with my dad. You live
with your mom, and now youlive with your dad, Okay. Um,
So in all those places that youstayed. What was your your favorite
city? And you can't stay herejust because I'm here. Okay, that
doesn't count. You cannot do that. Okay, Um what was your favorite
what was your favorite city? Whatdid you Um? I would have to
say web City? Why why webCity? Um? Well besides where I'm
(10:05):
at now. But yes, Ithink this place so far has been one
of my tops. Okay, okay, okay, so let's talk about that.
Why has this one been one ofyour tops? Um? It's just
it's a lot different and being likefrom around here, not like like around
here close close vicinity. Yes,it's like you. What is that?
(10:31):
It's the lights. The lights havean automatic timer and they shut off.
We're now sitting in the dark.Well, we're not in the dark,
people, it's not like total darkness. We have a window over there.
But we decided to save money wewould put automatic lights in the rooms.
And what's really bad is when we'resitting here having a nice conversation, the
lights go off in the middle ofit. So now it's there, it's
almost like it's almost like a horrorshow. No, no, okay,
(10:54):
so we were talking. Sorry,we're gonna get off track, and like
chase rabbits down rabbit holes and thingslike that. But okay, so we
were talking and you said you likethis area. Okay, so what what
what about this area? Well,since I grew up here basically, like
I think it was until I wasaround like five or so. Um,
(11:18):
it's like you remember a lot ofthings, and then after that it just
gets so familiar. And it's coolto see, like where you grew up
because then you go like back downthe streets that you were, like you
used to live and then you're like, it's crazy that I lived there,
Yeah, and that that used tobe my home. I've always found that
fascinating. Yeah. Um, sowould you say you're more of a city
(11:41):
girl or a country girl both?Because you got city girl pants on right
now. She got she's got likecrazy checkered black and white. She has
very much has her own style.And she has freakishly small feet, which
I didn't know, but that's whatyou said. You said some kids told
you you had small feet, whichI've never noticed. I just she wears.
(12:03):
She's got these like black and whitecheckered pants on right now, so
she's very what is that monotone?Because she's got black and white going on
today, and she can't wear theheadphones right now because she's pierced both her
ears and her ears hurt, soshe's got to hold one of the cans
up to her ears, which ispretty funny. But okay, so you
would say you're both yes, Okay. What appeals to you about the city?
(12:28):
I think it's just the more modernESTs. I don't know, I've
never really been like go outside andplaying the mud type a person, but
it doesn't bother me, right,So I would say both, okay,
all right. Cool. So nowthis is kind of getting into the questions
that we talked about that might bea little bit more hard hitting than the
(12:50):
than the playfulness we've had before.What would you say, Leila? Is
the hardest part about foster care?People joking about it, like um,
like going up to you and saying, ha ha, you're adopted. Like
people that go around and say stufflike that they don't know anything about,
right, because you could go upto the wrong person and say that and
(13:11):
it could actually like it could hurttheir feelings. Well, I mean,
and that's not good to say toanybody, you know. It's it's like
taking a I don't want to sayit's a traumatic event, but it's something
that can be very hard on somebody, and like making light of it,
like you said, laughing about itlike it's a joke and something to be
laughed at, and it's very serious, very insensitive, yeah, and very
(13:31):
very uncaring. Um. So that'sthat's the hardest thing you'd say, is
people just joking about it taking itserious. Yeah, So you know that,
and that we're like going up toa person they know was adopted or
in foster care, yes, andsaying that it wasn't a big deal,
yeah, and that they shouldn't talkabout it, right, So taking taking
(13:54):
it light and not appreciating it forwhat it is. And I think that
you know, definitely for foster careand adoption because that is that is a
very big deal, but also justfor anything that somebody's going through, you
know, to kind of have Ialways say to give people grace, you
know, because you don't know whatit's like to walk in their shoes,
and it's it's very hard to understand, and you need to be respectful and
(14:16):
appreciative and caring, you know,which is a big problem with the world
today. So what's the most importantthing that you want people to know about
foster care, that it is areally nice thing to do, and if
like how much people don't realize howmuch it can impact your life. Like
(14:39):
some people will be like, oh, I want to do that and not
realize what they're getting into, right, because it's a it's a big deal.
Yeah, like we said, youdon't make light of it. It's
it's a responsibility. It's a reallybig responsibility. And it doesn't only impact
like the parents life because you think, oh, they're already used to that,
(15:01):
but really they're not, because it'sa whole new place, right and
you have to get used to itand everything unless you're like really young and
I get that that's but it's stillsomething that you have to get used to,
even as a baby if you don'tremember it. And and we'll talk
about that. Um, how bigis your family? So tell us about
(15:22):
your family, like the family youhave now you're you're adopted, you know,
you're you're kind of you're kind ofin a place, yea, So
tell us tell us about that.I have five other siblings that live with
me, and there's others that livewith my mom and out of the house
and all that okay, but Ihave five other siblings that live with me,
UM, all adopted. My dadhas never had any biological kids.
(15:43):
My mom has had one. Okay, that's it, UM, And I
would say it was it's comforting livingin a big household. But you know,
it can get annoying because you knowso many people. Sure, but
I like it. What are thewhat are the age groups we're talking?
Can hear? Like? Um?High school eighteen two nine nine? Okay,
(16:04):
So it's it's a pretty big spread, which with five kids, you
would imagine that that's the way itis. UM. So what you like
that? It's it's it's big,big family. So what do you guys
do like vacations? Do you youknow? At home? What do you
do? Um? Other than piercedears? Um, we have animals,
(16:29):
chickens, dogs, We have abottle calf. Yes, so that takes
up quite a bit of our time. Yeah, you were just saying this
morning you had to take care ofthe chickens and feed the calf. And
yeah, in in the mornings,we UM, we get up and feed
puppies and cows, and then inthe afternoon when we come home, we
do all of it, including chickens, okay, um, But I've always
(16:53):
liked it because it's it's time consuming, and I mean it's not it's not
like just it's you have to actuallylike take care of them, right.
Um, it's not just something you'dlike play around with. But but it
makes you appreciate things, right,it makes you appreciate the animals and everything
(17:15):
like that. So what what doyou do, Lela? What's something you
do for fun other than collect bells? Um? I like to play with
our puppy and um, I don'tknow. So you're you're an animal lover.
Yeah, favorite animals? Dogs?What do you like? Dogs?
(17:37):
Cats? And my favorite animal wouldbe like a koala or a panda.
It's a koala or a panda.Do you have hopes of getting Technically,
I've always wanted a snake, butI've always liked pandas and koalas, pandas
and koala. But I know I'llnever get one. But if it was
my choice to like get one,I would always want a snake. But
(17:59):
my says no snakes, so nosnakes. Snakes. Snakes are a popular
thing I had. We had asa class pet when I taught. We
had a lizard for a while hewas kind of boring and never did anything,
and the kids really got angry.So I ended up finding a kid
who really like lizards and I gavehim. Gave him to that kid brothers.
Lizard bite me before I was Iwas messing around with it and it
(18:23):
bit me on my thumb in mymiddle finger. Ouch ouch. Well you
know you did. You did anexcellent job, you know, I think.
And I just wanted to say thankyou very much for coming on here
and talking about this because when Iheard this topic, I think it was
something that could be really good forpeople to hear out there. But as
you know, when you come inhere to the podcast, you have to
(18:45):
have a shout out to somebody.So for some reason, you know somebody
that helped you, you know,who's who's been great um in your life
and just been very helpful. Sowho, Laila, do you have that
you want to give a shout outtoo? And why Bailey Archer? Okay?
And why are we giving a shoutout to Bailey Archer? Because she's
a really amazing friend and I don'tknow, she's always like she's really kind
(19:12):
and sweet, and I don't know, she doesn't talk that much. But
I feel like she's opened up.So okay, all right, well Bailey,
your shout out. This one's foryou. It's got a good babe,
(19:33):
all right? For her having tolisten to that. Why that's Michael
Jackson. That was a smooth criminalman. That's still und dunne. That's
still good stuff right there, That'sstill good stuff. Well, Leila,
as I said, you did anexcellent job today. Um, thanks for
coming on talking to us about yourlife and things that have gone on in
your life, and is a specialtreat. I have your very own outro
(19:56):
song for you too. So Ifound this. Yeah, so we you
know, we started with jingle bellrock and that was pretty cool, but
now we got something a little bitdifferent. Yeah, I know, I
know, kind of gangster little FrankSinatra. Pretty good stuff. Well,
(20:22):
Leila, at once again, Iwant to thank you for coming on here
and you know, being brave andbeing able to have this conversation with us
and to just let people know aboutfoster care. So thank you very much.
So she's amazing, isn't she Justa great positive attitude. She's fun,
(20:45):
she's quick witted, very sarcastic.Though you didn't hear it much there.
I think she was kind of restrainingherself. But I think that young
lady has a very bright future infront of her and I can't wait to
see what she has to offer theworld. I think it's going to be
something quite impressive. She's she's quitethe character, and I can appreciate that.
(21:08):
If there's an award out there forguests of podcast, I would hope
she might be in the running andcould receive one. But that's gonna do
it for today's episode. Again,thanks to Layla Wittenberg for coming in and
just sharing that information with us.And again I will be at the AGGAT
(21:29):
conference on Friday of next week andI'll be presenting at nine in the porter
room, which is room number two. So if you happen to be at
the AGAT Conference and would like toput a face to the voice, because
I can assure you I have aface for radio, come on buy and
see me. I'd love to meetyou just maybe hear what you have to
(21:51):
say about the podcast, and ifyou've enjoyed it, I'd greatly appreciate it.
And once again we thank you forlistening and as always, never ever
forget to embrace your inner weirdo.Thanks everyone, M
Can I just say that I lovequirky, strong, resilient kids with just
the right amount of spunk and sarcasm, and you're getting ready to meet one
today. My name is Michael Bridges, and this is the Hey What's Your
Deal? Podcast? Ladies and gentlemen. I'm not even gonna make excuses this
(00:35):
time. We're behind schedule. We'realways going to be behind schedule. That's
just how it's gonna be. I'mgonna try and get these out to you
as soon as I can. I'mlining kids up. We're gonna get more
recorded, and we'll get more intoyour ears just as soon as we can,
I promise you. Once again,welcome to the only GT podcast that
(00:55):
has the nerve, the audacity,and the unmitigated gall to just come right
out and ask, Hey, what'syour deal? Once again, I am
your host, Michael Bridges. Iam the GT coordinator for the Alma School
District, also serve as the APcoordinator, and this is the Hey What's
Your Deal? Podcast? It hasbeen crazy around here. It is always
(01:19):
crazy around here, but it's especiallycrazy today because it's Valentine's Day and there
are parties going on. We're doinglike national play day makeup today because we
missed it because of an eye storm. Pray for your teachers, Pray for
your teachers. It's it's this isthis is wartime. This is wartime.
UM. They're gonna make it,but I see it in their eyes.
(01:42):
You know they're they're they're struggling,but they will make it because they're they're
resilient. God bless them. GodspeedUM Again. We're getting ready before we
kick everything off, I just wantto do a quick plug. Next week
will be the agate UM conference inLittle Rock. I will be attending along
(02:02):
with several other GT coordinators, GTteachers, some GT students will be there.
I was blessed enough to where Igot recognized for a GT Educator award,
So I'm going to be recognized andmy wife's going to be able to
like go with me and attend theluncheon, so that's really cool. And
I'm also going to be presenting thatFriday on critical thinking and teaching philosophy to
(02:24):
elementary school students. So I've gota whole program there that I'm going to
do. So if you're a GTcoordinator, GT teacher and you don't know
about AGET, I would highly encourageyou to, you know, fill in
a membership. If it's too latefor you to go this year, I
would highly encourage you to go nextyear. It's one of the things as
(02:45):
a GT teacher and coordinator that Ireally look forward to. So again,
that starts on Tuesday of next weekand goes through Friday. Like I said,
I'll be presenting on Friday, theyhave the luncheon on Thursday, and
then they'll all sorts of great breakoutsessions on Friday. So I would highly
suggest that you attend if you areable. So today on the podcast,
(03:08):
I've got a pretty interesting treat foryou. One of our students, Layla
Whittenberg, who you're going to hear, is a new student. She came
to us earlier this year, comesfrom foster care and has been adopted,
so she's a child of the fostercare system, has been adopted into a
new family, and she when Iasked her, you know, to maybe
(03:30):
come up with a topic, thisis what she came up with. And
I was really impressed that she hadthe guts to come out and speak about
it. So we got it clearedwith her parents to make sure it was
okay for her to come and talk. So, without further ado, I
present to you Laylah Wittenberg and herdeal yingle yingle jingle bells. Okay,
(04:05):
do you do you want to tellpeople why I am playing jingle bells in
like early mid February because I havethe temptation to get ready for Christmas eleven
months before. Are you Are youan elf? No? No, you
do have you do have a crazyfascination with bells though, right, yes,
(04:29):
yes, you're not a cat?Are you? You're not like a
furry You're not You're not You're notclaiming you're a cat or something like that,
right, okay, okay, okay, and you're sar not an elf?
Do you like eat like spaghetti andmaple syrup and stuff like that altogether
mixed with pop tarts? I haveno comment on that. Have you ever
seen Elf? The movie Elf withWill Ferrell? Yes, okay, that's
(04:50):
what That's what he eats. That'swhat he eats, eats like the the
the pop tarts and syrup and sugar. I do have an insane love you.
Do you bring pop tarts? Yes? Well, we're kind of getting
off track here, everybody, thisis uh, Laila Wittenberg say hi,
(05:11):
Leila. Oh look she's she's surebon jour, oh a little French,
a little fancy. Um. SoLaila is new to our GT program.
She came this year and I testedher. And when she came she was
so shy she wouldn't even look mein the eye and everything. And now
she's like, Gary me, no, how am I scary? You're just
(05:35):
you look scary. Seeing Now mywife's gonna listen to this and she's gonna
be like, yeah, I toldyou see you look, you look like
you're terrifying. Kids are kids arefrightened. W I'm a nice guy.
I'm a nice guy. But um, Laila, as you can tell,
um, has the gift of sarcasm, as do I. It's true,
(05:55):
it's true. I say that asa compliment. So this this episode will
be fairly sarcastic. So just asa warning, there will be sarcasm going
on. Sarcasm self test complete.So just wanted to let you know that
there will be some sarcasm here,not on my end, totally on Laylah's
because she just tell us. Allright. So Layla, Layla came to
us, you know, at thebeginning of the year, and like I
(06:16):
said, she was. She wasrather shy. I didn't know if she
would talk, and she's just comeon and she's done our morning show and
we do morning announcements here and she'sgotten on and spoken. And when I
told her about this podcast, Ithought she had a really really interesting topic
because a lot of the times onhere we do uh haha, laughy fun
(06:38):
stuff and this is gonna be abit more serious. So Layla, why
don't you go ahead and tell themwhat is your deal foster care and adoption
because you have come through the fostercare system and you're adopted, right,
which I thought was totally cool becausewhen she first brought it to me,
I was like, are you sureyou want to talk about that? That's
kind of a heavy topic. Ohyeah, absolutely, So I think this
(07:00):
can be a great topic that we'regetting ready to discuss, and I think
Layla's going to do an excellent job. So can you and you don't have
to go into, you know,super duper detail, but can you tell
us a little bit more about yourexperience with like foster care and adoption and
things things like that. I waslike about I was baby and baby when
before I got into foster care,I was about like six months old when
(07:25):
I got into foster care. Okay. Um, I was there for about
like six months Okay in foster care, okay, and my mom and dad
wanted to adopt me and to othersibling, to my other So I'm correct
and assuming that, Um, yourmom and dad they were just they weren't
(07:49):
looking to adopt, right. Didn'tyou tell me that they weren't necessarily looking
to adopt. They had lots ofother kids in their home at the time,
like a lot. Like when yousay a lot, how many is
a lot? Like it does somethinglike come and go? But they were
about like a hundred kids that theyhad, wow, just off and on.
(08:11):
Not like they don't live in ahuge Buckingham Palace castle, I would
imagine, but lots of kids,okay, Um. And I mean,
I know I'm kind of getting youto speak for them. But was this,
um like a calling that they had? Did they want to help out
kids? Do you know why whythey were doing that? I really don't
know because of how young I was. Um, I don't think they've ever
(08:31):
told me before, but I thinkthey just, like I know my mom
has talked about it before, butI think she just like felt the need
to like help kids that don't getthe help that they need. That's awesome,
that's awesome. That's that's great.That's really awesome. So you you
went to them when you were alittle baby, so you've been with them
(08:52):
forever forever, so they're they're prettymuch what you know. Yeah, okay,
all right, um, but youdid tell me that you've lived in
quite a few different places, right, So what are some of the places
that you've lived, because you've you'vemoved around quite a bit. Uh So,
at first I lived in Elkins,Arkansas, and then after that my
parents split up, um, andthen I moved which Elkins is the place
(09:16):
that they did foster care and everything, okay. And then after that I
moved to Missouri Joplin with my nana, and then once we can get our
own house, we moved to webCity, Missouri, okay. And then
after that moved to Bentonville, okay. And after that here okay, okay,
And you got back with your yourparents your no, no, but
(09:41):
I lived with my mom and nowI live with my dad. You live
with your mom, and now youlive with your dad, Okay. Um,
So in all those places that youstayed. What was your your favorite
city? And you can't stay herejust because I'm here. Okay, that
doesn't count. You cannot do that. Okay, Um what was your favorite
what was your favorite city? Whatdid you Um? I would have to
say web City? Why why webCity? Um? Well besides where I'm
(10:05):
at now. But yes, Ithink this place so far has been one
of my tops. Okay, okay, okay, so let's talk about that.
Why has this one been one ofyour tops? Um? It's just
it's a lot different and being likefrom around here, not like like around
here close close vicinity. Yes,it's like you. What is that?
(10:31):
It's the lights. The lights havean automatic timer and they shut off.
We're now sitting in the dark.Well, we're not in the dark,
people, it's not like total darkness. We have a window over there.
But we decided to save money wewould put automatic lights in the rooms.
And what's really bad is when we'resitting here having a nice conversation, the
lights go off in the middle ofit. So now it's there, it's
almost like it's almost like a horrorshow. No, no, okay,
(10:54):
so we were talking. Sorry,we're gonna get off track, and like
chase rabbits down rabbit holes and thingslike that. But okay, so we
were talking and you said you likethis area. Okay, so what what
what about this area? Well,since I grew up here basically, like
I think it was until I wasaround like five or so. Um,
(11:18):
it's like you remember a lot ofthings, and then after that it just
gets so familiar. And it's coolto see, like where you grew up
because then you go like back downthe streets that you were, like you
used to live and then you're like, it's crazy that I lived there,
Yeah, and that that used tobe my home. I've always found that
fascinating. Yeah. Um, sowould you say you're more of a city
(11:41):
girl or a country girl both?Because you got city girl pants on right
now. She got she's got likecrazy checkered black and white. She has
very much has her own style.And she has freakishly small feet, which
I didn't know, but that's whatyou said. You said some kids told
you you had small feet, whichI've never noticed. I just she wears.
(12:03):
She's got these like black and whitecheckered pants on right now, so
she's very what is that monotone?Because she's got black and white going on
today, and she can't wear theheadphones right now because she's pierced both her
ears and her ears hurt, soshe's got to hold one of the cans
up to her ears, which ispretty funny. But okay, so you
would say you're both yes, Okay. What appeals to you about the city?
(12:28):
I think it's just the more modernESTs. I don't know, I've
never really been like go outside andplaying the mud type a person, but
it doesn't bother me, right,So I would say both, okay,
all right. Cool. So nowthis is kind of getting into the questions
that we talked about that might bea little bit more hard hitting than the
(12:50):
than the playfulness we've had before.What would you say, Leila? Is
the hardest part about foster care?People joking about it, like um,
like going up to you and saying, ha ha, you're adopted. Like
people that go around and say stufflike that they don't know anything about,
right, because you could go upto the wrong person and say that and
(13:11):
it could actually like it could hurttheir feelings. Well, I mean,
and that's not good to say toanybody, you know. It's it's like
taking a I don't want to sayit's a traumatic event, but it's something
that can be very hard on somebody, and like making light of it,
like you said, laughing about itlike it's a joke and something to be
laughed at, and it's very serious, very insensitive, yeah, and very
(13:31):
very uncaring. Um. So that'sthat's the hardest thing you'd say, is
people just joking about it taking itserious. Yeah, So you know that,
and that we're like going up toa person they know was adopted or
in foster care, yes, andsaying that it wasn't a big deal,
yeah, and that they shouldn't talkabout it, right, So taking taking
(13:54):
it light and not appreciating it forwhat it is. And I think that
you know, definitely for foster careand adoption because that is that is a
very big deal, but also justfor anything that somebody's going through, you
know, to kind of have Ialways say to give people grace, you
know, because you don't know whatit's like to walk in their shoes,
and it's it's very hard to understand, and you need to be respectful and
(14:16):
appreciative and caring, you know,which is a big problem with the world
today. So what's the most importantthing that you want people to know about
foster care, that it is areally nice thing to do, and if
like how much people don't realize howmuch it can impact your life. Like
(14:39):
some people will be like, oh, I want to do that and not
realize what they're getting into, right, because it's a it's a big deal.
Yeah, like we said, youdon't make light of it. It's
it's a responsibility. It's a reallybig responsibility. And it doesn't only impact
like the parents life because you think, oh, they're already used to that,
(15:01):
but really they're not, because it'sa whole new place, right and
you have to get used to itand everything unless you're like really young and
I get that that's but it's stillsomething that you have to get used to,
even as a baby if you don'tremember it. And and we'll talk
about that. Um, how bigis your family? So tell us about
(15:22):
your family, like the family youhave now you're you're adopted, you know,
you're you're kind of you're kind ofin a place, yea, So
tell us tell us about that.I have five other siblings that live with
me, and there's others that livewith my mom and out of the house
and all that okay, but Ihave five other siblings that live with me,
UM, all adopted. My dadhas never had any biological kids.
(15:43):
My mom has had one. Okay, that's it, UM, And I
would say it was it's comforting livingin a big household. But you know,
it can get annoying because you knowso many people. Sure, but
I like it. What are thewhat are the age groups we're talking?
Can hear? Like? Um?High school eighteen two nine nine? Okay,
(16:04):
So it's it's a pretty big spread, which with five kids, you
would imagine that that's the way itis. UM. So what you like
that? It's it's it's big,big family. So what do you guys
do like vacations? Do you youknow? At home? What do you
do? Um? Other than piercedears? Um, we have animals,
(16:29):
chickens, dogs, We have abottle calf. Yes, so that takes
up quite a bit of our time. Yeah, you were just saying this
morning you had to take care ofthe chickens and feed the calf. And
yeah, in in the mornings,we UM, we get up and feed
puppies and cows, and then inthe afternoon when we come home, we
do all of it, including chickens, okay, um, But I've always
(16:53):
liked it because it's it's time consuming, and I mean it's not it's not
like just it's you have to actuallylike take care of them, right.
Um, it's not just something you'dlike play around with. But but it
makes you appreciate things, right,it makes you appreciate the animals and everything
(17:15):
like that. So what what doyou do, Lela? What's something you
do for fun other than collect bells? Um? I like to play with
our puppy and um, I don'tknow. So you're you're an animal lover.
Yeah, favorite animals? Dogs?What do you like? Dogs?
(17:37):
Cats? And my favorite animal wouldbe like a koala or a panda.
It's a koala or a panda.Do you have hopes of getting Technically,
I've always wanted a snake, butI've always liked pandas and koalas, pandas
and koala. But I know I'llnever get one. But if it was
my choice to like get one,I would always want a snake. But
(17:59):
my says no snakes, so nosnakes. Snakes. Snakes are a popular
thing I had. We had asa class pet when I taught. We
had a lizard for a while hewas kind of boring and never did anything,
and the kids really got angry.So I ended up finding a kid
who really like lizards and I gavehim. Gave him to that kid brothers.
Lizard bite me before I was Iwas messing around with it and it
(18:23):
bit me on my thumb in mymiddle finger. Ouch ouch. Well you
know you did. You did anexcellent job, you know, I think.
And I just wanted to say thankyou very much for coming on here
and talking about this because when Iheard this topic, I think it was
something that could be really good forpeople to hear out there. But as
you know, when you come inhere to the podcast, you have to
(18:45):
have a shout out to somebody.So for some reason, you know somebody
that helped you, you know,who's who's been great um in your life
and just been very helpful. Sowho, Laila, do you have that
you want to give a shout outtoo? And why Bailey Archer? Okay?
And why are we giving a shoutout to Bailey Archer? Because she's
a really amazing friend and I don'tknow, she's always like she's really kind
(19:12):
and sweet, and I don't know, she doesn't talk that much. But
I feel like she's opened up.So okay, all right, well Bailey,
your shout out. This one's foryou. It's got a good babe,
(19:33):
all right? For her having tolisten to that. Why that's Michael
Jackson. That was a smooth criminalman. That's still und dunne. That's
still good stuff right there, That'sstill good stuff. Well, Leila,
as I said, you did anexcellent job today. Um, thanks for
coming on talking to us about yourlife and things that have gone on in
your life, and is a specialtreat. I have your very own outro
(19:56):
song for you too. So Ifound this. Yeah, so we you
know, we started with jingle bellrock and that was pretty cool, but
now we got something a little bitdifferent. Yeah, I know, I
know, kind of gangster little FrankSinatra. Pretty good stuff. Well,
(20:22):
Leila, at once again, Iwant to thank you for coming on here
and you know, being brave andbeing able to have this conversation with us
and to just let people know aboutfoster care. So thank you very much.
So she's amazing, isn't she Justa great positive attitude. She's fun,
(20:45):
she's quick witted, very sarcastic.Though you didn't hear it much there.
I think she was kind of restrainingherself. But I think that young
lady has a very bright future infront of her and I can't wait to
see what she has to offer theworld. I think it's going to be
something quite impressive. She's she's quitethe character, and I can appreciate that.
(21:08):
If there's an award out there forguests of podcast, I would hope
she might be in the running andcould receive one. But that's gonna do
it for today's episode. Again,thanks to Layla Wittenberg for coming in and
just sharing that information with us.And again I will be at the AGGAT
(21:29):
conference on Friday of next week andI'll be presenting at nine in the porter
room, which is room number two. So if you happen to be at
the AGAT Conference and would like toput a face to the voice, because
I can assure you I have aface for radio, come on buy and
see me. I'd love to meetyou just maybe hear what you have to
(21:51):
say about the podcast, and ifyou've enjoyed it, I'd greatly appreciate it.
And once again we thank you forlistening and as always, never ever
forget to embrace your inner weirdo.Thanks everyone, M
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