How Long?

There's a question I get all the time when I get a new placement: "How long will you have them?"

It's kind of an annoying question because almost 100% of the time, the answer is, "I really don't know." 

And when I think I have a clue, that often turns out to be not right anyway.  I thought Evie would be here a couple of weeks or maybe a month at most; she was here over thirteen months.  They said Tank would probably be going to relatives "in a couple of weeks" after I got him; he stayed four months.  They told me Tigger had no relatives that could step up and care for him and that mom's treatment plan would be at least six months; now they are doing home studies on both his aunt and neighbor so it is likely he won't be here much more than another month. 

There's no suggestion I have as to a better question to ask because I know that the question is in the forefront of people's minds.  It's actually in the forefront of mine, but unfortunately uncertainty and unexpected changes are the name of the game in foster care.  I guess I just need to get more comfortable with saying, "I don't know" and leaving it at that when I get asked the question, "How long will you have them?"