Foster care is a family affair. Our family on both sides have been supportive of us since our journey began. All seven of our kids have been brought into our family with smiles and warm hugs. I know that our choice to foster has affected our family. I wanted to get my mom’s perspective so I asked her three basic questions of her experiences.
What has been the most challenging part of foster care from your perspective?
The most challenging part of foster care from my perspective was seeing my daughter be hurt when kids were taken from their home suddenly, I also hurt for the kiddos who were suddenly uprooted.
Another challenging part has not always being able to wrap my arms around the kids goodbye when they leave. Another difficult part is seeing how my grandchildren have missed some of the fosters after they have left. My grands are very young and it has been difficult to always explain why they had to go. I remember my daughter got a call from a school of a former foster. The parent forgot to pick him up at the end of the day. My heart sank and wanted to help that sweet boy. I know how and confused and upset that must have been for him, but there was nothing we could do.
What has been the best part?
The best part was when we knew that parental rights were severed and we knew adoption for my soon-to-be grandson will be a reality in the near future. I have also enjoyed getting to know and love the foster children in my daughters home. It is very easy to get attached. We have always tried as grandparents to make them feel accepted and included in our family just as my biological grandchildren.
Can you share some of your favorite memories of the kids?
The special smiles of little man. Facetiming with half pint, because he would light up when he saw us and over time he started talking about his day more and more. I enjoyed face timing with little cub, because I always wanted to see how he wore his silly hat- either sideways or backwards. We also got to see little cub’s personality develop as time passed. The best memory has been watching my grandchildren play and interact with fosters grands.
Both of the Murphy’s and Campbell’s have been awesome supporting us with our foster care journey. They have loved and supported every single one of our kids. They have included our kids in birthdays, holidays, special days, and normal days. My parents and siblings have had really special relationships with the kids. The true heroes of foster care have been my niece and nephew. They are 5 and 4. They truly don’t know anything but me bringing foster kids into the family. They always accept the kids right away and my nephew still asks about kids that have left. They don’t always understand but they are phenomenal foster cousins.
We can’t foster alone. We are lucky to have our extended families behind us. We are lucky to have many friends that make up the village that surrounds us. I am realizing that our current situation is bigger than just us. I have realized that the day the gavel hits making Little Man our son will be a huge moment for our entire tribe.
Foster care is a family affair!
Koko
