Francilyn and Mark Arrambide of Kahaluu opened their hearts to adopt three foster children several years ago, and are in the process of adopting their five grandchildren.
Having so many kids — ages 2 through 10 — gets "a little crazy" sometimes, but Francilyn Arrambide makes it sound like a walk in the park.
"I love kids! We play ukulele and sing songs. My husband likes to take them ice skating, roller skating, everything. He’s really good with the kids and they all listen," Arrambide said. "They’re beautiful kids. They don’t ask for too much and don’t grumble about getting hand-me-down clothes."
But the cost of caring for them is another matter: "At the end of the month, we’re down to the nitty-gritty. But we make things work out," said Arrambide, 51. She collects a disability pension due to heart trouble and a stroke, and her husband works full time as a nurse’s aide.
The entire Arrambide clan is up for adoption, so to speak, in Helping Hands Hawaii’s annual Adopt-A-Family Christmas program. Every year the Star-Advertiser collects donations for the program through its Good Neighbor Fund drive to help struggling families who could use some holiday cheer. The public may donate monetary gifts or specific items requested by families.
The family lives in a seven-bedroom house owned by Francilyn’s father, 75, who has helped a lot with child care since being laid off recently. "Everybody works together. We try to make things good for the kids," Arrambide said.
Since last December, Arrambide and her husband have been taking care of their five grandchildren because the children were often left home alone and did not have enough to eat. She said their parents had drug problems and ended up living on the streets, just like the parents of the three foster kids they adopted. There was no jealousy between the two groups of kids when their grandkids moved in, she said.
The positive results of their grandkids’ more stable lifestyle can be seen at school, where a few have won honors, something that never happened before, Arrambide said.
The grandchildren have long been without contact with their father, but talk to their mother on the phone a lot. They beg her, "‘Please, Mom, let us stay here. Don’t take us away!’" Arrambide said, adding that the kids were soon calling their grandparents "Mom" and "Dad."
One of them told their mother, "You need help, Mommy — get it, please!" said Arrambide, who said she urged her daughter, "Just clean yourself up. Just do your part and I’ll take care of the kids." Arrambide said the children have started thinking about their future and talking about going to college.
"They all want to get good jobs and say, ‘If we get good jobs, maybe we’ll all buy a house together!’" she said, laughing. "They ask me, ‘What kind of jobs should we get?’ I told them, ‘If you can be a nurse, you can work any place in the world.’ They’re already practicing using the blood pressure machine on each other," said Arrambide, who used to be a medical technician.
For Christmas, she said the kids would love to get bicycles.
"We just want gifts for the kids, nothing for adults," she said.
