The 4-year-old boy, full of chatter and energy, has a bed here. He just doesn’t particularly want to use it right now.

“Ten minutes before we take a nap,” Steve Fisher says to the child.

Ah, the 10-minute warning: a hallmark of every home with a toddler.

This, however, isn’t every home. The 4-year-old boy and his 6-year-old sister — who already is dutifully taking her nap — are child No. 24 and No. 25 for the Lawrence household of Steve and Patti Fisher.

Perhaps you are thinking that something other than the 10-minute warning ought to be explained here, but, fear not, the Fishers are prodigious foster parents. The 25 children have come in a three-and-a-half-year period.

Patti explains how it happens: “I get a call (from the placement firm), and then I call him (Steve) and say, ‘Can we do this?'”

Lawrence residents Patti and Steve Fisher are pictured Dec. 2 at their Lawrence home with their two foster children, a 4-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl, who are unidentified to protect the privacy of their biological parents. Over the past three-and-a-half years, the couple has fostered 25 children together. The boy and girl have been with the Fishers for two years.

Then, the scramble begins: Changing the kids’ room from a Winnie the Pooh theme to KU basketball; trips to Wal-Mart at 1 in the morning to get needed supplies. Most of the time a foster family has no more than a day or two to prepare for the arrival.

The kids have ranged in age from 10 months to 15 years old. Their length of stays have varied, too. Some have been as short as just a weekend. Some have been quite a bit longer. The 4-year-old boy and 6-year-old girl — we don’t use their names for privacy reasons — have been with the Fishers for about two years.

“We’re staying with these kids for as long as they need us,” Patti says.

• • •

The 4-year-old boy is still going strong.

“I gave him the 10-minute warning,” Steve says. “But I don’t think he understands what 10 minutes is.”

Ah, the I-can’t-tell-time loophole.

Every parent has fallen victim to that one. For Steve, though, it had been a while. He’s in his mid-50s and works at Home Depot. He has two grown stepchildren from a previous marriage. Patti, a telecommunications engineer, is in her mid-40s and had no children before she became a foster parent.

But the pair has done well. The Fishers recently were honored as the DCCCA Featured Foster Family of 2015.

Patti says there was no “aha moment” when she decided to become a foster parent. Instead, it was more of a gradual recognition.

“You just have to be willing to give of yourself and see where it leads,” Patti says.

Sometimes, you also have to be willing to say goodbye. Foster children are meant to leave the home, either to return back to their parents, other family members or sometimes to be adopted.

That means goodbyes.

“But we still wonder about all the kids who have come through here,” Steve says, breaking into a story about a pair of sisters with autism who stayed with the family. “They would stay on that swing in the backyard all day, if you would let them. You always wonder what happened to them.”

Yes, the goodbyes can be tough. None was tougher than when earlier this year the 4-year-old and the 6-year-old were returned to a parent, despite trepidation from Steve and Patti.

But Patti says one of the keys to being a good foster parent is that you can’t let the pain of a goodbye stop you from taking the chance to care.

“Even with your biological kids, you never know how much time you are going to have with them either,” Patti says. “That is never on your terms. It is on God’s terms. In this case, it also is on the judge’s terms. But you don’t stop loving your own kids just because you don’t know, so why would you stop loving these kids?”

You also never know when the kids may come back into your life. About three weeks after returning to the parent, the phone rang. The placement agency was asking Patti if the kids could return.

She called Steve.

“I told her,” Steve says, “that she didn’t need to ask.”

• • •

There are a lot of unexpected opportunities with kids. Getting a chance to experience youth again is one of them.

“We get to see things through kids’ eyes again,” Patti says. “We got to take them to see Santa for the first time. That was huge for us. I can’t imagine how parents don’t move heaven and earth to do those things for children.”

Steve and Patti are trying to adopt the 4-year-old and the 6-year-old. Hearings are scheduled, but you never know how these things will go.

No matter what happens, the couple will feel good about what has happened here.

“One of the great things has been to see kids come here, and you can tell they now know what a dad is supposed to do,” Patti says. “They understand how a dad is supposed to treat them.”

The learning has gone both ways.

“We felt we could make a difference with kids,” Patti says. “But little did we know how much of a difference they would make with us.”

Sometimes, they’ll even surprise you at nap time.

“It is time to take a nap,” Steve says while watching the boy still stand there. A moment longer passes. “Please.”

And that did the trick. Off he goes. Off to his bed. Unlike the very old story that is at the center of this holiday season, there’s always a bed available here. A certain attitude ensures there’s always room.

“Our definition of family has always been fluid,” Patti says. “If you are in need, we have said, ‘Come here.'”

Happy holidays to you and your family.