I truly, with all of my heart, believe that this statement is true even if most all of the kids we have cared for won’t even remember us.  Hopefully we will be a feeling they carry with them of a place of love.  I believe we make a difference and provide a safe, loving home to all of the kids who come live with us and it matters.  For some it is just a couple of days, some a couple of years.  We are blessed to have them and have learned something from each and every one.
I will admit, as much as we love it and feel rewarded by doing it, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns.
Fostering isn’t just about loving a child in need.   It’s about working with “rules” (no haircuts, log every bump & scratch, dr visits for every cough, etc), working with social workers (sometimes great, sometimes super frustrating) and biological parents (who are often times not super happy you are taking care of their child and complain about the way they are being cared for).
Over the last 11 years and 54 kids we have come to know, we have had incredibly great experiences and some incredibly frustrating ones.
We have made the choice as the parents to open our home to kids who need a safe place to be while the adults work out their issues.  Unfortunately, this means our boys know about drugs and abuse and that sometimes people do horrible things to others.  They are too young to know these things, but they do because there is no other way to explain how a 6 week old baby is broken and needs to live with us for awhile.
But they are learning to care for these babies and be tender and sweet and they are learning that babies are a LOT of hard work.  There are times when they resent them, the jealousy rises and there are tears and drama.   I get it, it’s super hard to share your mom in such an intense way.  I can only hope that us fostering and these experiences, while tough while we are in the trenches (right now!!!!), will be looked back upon in a positive way and help my kids become more open and accepting of others who may be struggling.