This list, it’s not hypothetical. Every single one of these heart-wrenching, anxiety-inducing, almost-makes-you-hate-foster-care things has happened to me. This week.
All in foster-care
Packing Up & Saying Good-Bye: The Chores & Emotions of the Final Day of Placement
Many of you shared how helpful it was to have a window into the first day of placement, so I decided to invite you along for the last day as well. Now for all of the projects and chores and emotions of a last day...
The One That Could've Been: Remembering How Heartbreaking Foster Care Is
She was the one who needed an adoptive family. The one we said yes to. The one they moved from our home...last night, when I read her name on my phone, my stomach turned. The words of the worker and the other foster moms I spoke to weaved together to create a tragic image.
10 Mother's Day Gift Ideas For Your Foster/Adopted Child's Biological Mother
It's just a kind and loving way for you to acknowledge: You are this child's biological mother, and I will honor you on Mother's Day.
Attachment, Trauma, & Development: What Every Foster & Adoptive Parent Should Know
Well assuming that you don’t have an MRI in your home, you won’t see the effect on their brains, but you will experience the effect on their behavior...
"I would get too attached," "Do you get to keep this one?" and "Are they all yours?": 40 Answers to the Invasive (But Typically-Well-Meaning) Questions Every Foster Parent Hears
Foster parents get lots of questions: inquisitive, curious, intrusive, and inappropriate....but all typically well-meaning. It's hard for people to understand this journey we're on. It's hard for them to understand why our families look so different. And so they ask. And for all the times you don't know how to answer, the readers of Foster the Family compiled their favorite answers to their most frequently received questions. From funny to irreverent to informative to heart-warming. You'll never search for an answer again.
Today I Say Good-Bye To My Daughter Forever: What Only A Foster Mother Knows
Today I say good-bye to my foster daughter, forever. I relinquish my role as her foster mother. I happily and sadly pass her back to her biological mother, her mother forever.
And I forever remember those months when I was her mother.
Orphans No More Radio Interview
I was honored to be a guest on Justice for Orphans' radio show "Orphans No More." Listen in as we talk about what compelled our family to get involved in foster care, some of the kids who have been in and out of our home, and the mission of "speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves."
Siblings’ Plea to Be Adopted Together Has Gone Viral and They Live In YOUR Town
Our hearts are tugged when we read real stories and see real pictures of real children in need. But, friends, whether their faces are spread across the internet or not, they exist. They may be faceless and voiceless and easily ignored, but they are very real.
Write Your Heart Out - Guest Post: Staci's Story
Then she said something that still brings tears to my eyes. She thanked us for saying yes and said that we were their last hope for keeping them together.
I Come From the Right Side of the Tracks, So It's Not My Problem
For all of the stark differences of these towns, there is one reality that binds them together. Both towns need these child protection offices. Both towns have broken families, struggling parents, hurting children.
When I Missed Out On Being a Part of Something Big
It will teach you and your children about the power of every person’s seemingly insignificant, independently insufficient efforts. And it will envision you for doing your part in this too-huge-task of finding a home for every child.
This Time Last Year - The Littles Who Came & Went #instagramseries
When these kids leave our homes, they don’t leave our hearts. That while we may not be able to care for them or even walk up and say hello, we can always pray for them. I can love this little girl--and all the others who quickly came and went-- in that way forever.
“What to Expect” When You're...Picking Up a Foster Baby From the Hospital
Here's my "how to", a list of all the things I’ve learned while picking up foster babies from the hospital. Things I wish I would’ve known, things I did right, and (more often) things I did wrong.
I Need Answers. How Do You Do This Foster Care Thing?
Foster mom, how do you balance the impossible tension of loving a child like they’re your own, when they’re not? I thought about it. How do you do it? And then I realized: The love is in your heart. The what ifs and questions and worries are in your mind.
I Said No To Adopting My Foster Son, Because I’m Just a Foster Mom
I wish you could meet my precious boy. You would understand why I love him so. He is gorgeous and sweet and so easy to love. And I do love him. But when his social worker asked me to adopt him, I said no. The thought of saying good-bye to him breaks my heart, the idea of him not being in our family hurts deeply, but still, I said no.
Considering Foster Care or Adoption? Read These Words From a Former Foster Child #writeourheartout - Sabrina
You are giving a child the chance to live a better life. A chance that they deserve. You are giving them the love and care that they so desperately need. You are making a lifelong, lasting difference in the life of another human being.
Being a Foster Child Taught Me Love #writeyourheartout - Sabrina's Story
I never understood why “foster care” and “adoption” had this eerie and peculiar reputation behind them, when those two things are responsible for the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.
Respite Care: Why a Foster Parent Would "Leave" a Foster Child & Why You Should Take a Child Who's Been "Left"
There may be times that a foster family may be in need of respite care for one reason or another. And before I jump into my argument for why foster parents should open their homes to respite placements, I want to shed some light on why families may need them in the first place.
Licensed & Waiting: Tips For Getting Foster Care Placements
Looking back now I realize it was only three months that I waited for my first placement, but at the time it felt like an eternity. Take the overall lack of phone ringing I had expected, add in a few potential placements falling through, and I was in full will-it-ever-happen-distress mode. Every story of a child languishing without a family was like a dagger in my heart. “I”m here. I’m waiting. Give me a child to love!”