A Foster Mother’s love

The news tells us that foster parents are monsters. They tell us that they don’t love the children in their care or even think about their well-being. They say that they are only in it for the money but honestly I know better.  What do you say to a foster parent  who cries out of concern for the well being of a child?  What do you say to that foster parent who is concerned that a parent may not be quite ready for their kids to come home? In the three weeks that I have been a foster care worker, I have not come across not even one foster parent who is in it just for the money. These people who have opened their homes to children who are not their blood have also opened up their hearts. Earlier this week I went grocery shopping with a foster parent and her two boys. These two boys have been in care for over 5 years and I was struck by how much of a family they looked and sounded like with their foster mom. As a family they bought things together. As a family they laughed and shared jokes. Like little kids who trust their parents to give them what they wanted, the boys would run through the aisles of the super market grabbing things that they wanted and bringing it back to their foster mother. She would laugh and say no to a lot of the items that they wanted because most of it was junk but occasionally she would say yes. I could see the bond between the foster mom and her boys. Boys whose files are filled with history of violence and medication, but boys whom this foster mother has gotten through to and love none the less. Foster parents are not doing the job for the money. Everyone has their own reason for why they do the job but that reason doesn’t mean that they can’t give the child what they need. Seeing these things this past week have helped me see a part of the overall child welfare system that works really well. It made me see why I chose to join Children’s Corp and why social work will be a good fit for me.