Foster Parents are Angels

When I became a foster parent and people began to notice the extra child hanging around with my family, I was called a lot of things.  Crazy was usually near the top of list but my favorite was angel.  Many people said I was an angel for helping a child in need.  I never quite figured out how to reply to that beyond a thank you because I did not feel like an angel.  I felt more like an overworked and disorganized mother who had squeezed one more thing onto my plate (maybe that crazy label fits!).  Maybe the answer lies in why people become foster parents.  I became a foster parent because I wanted to adopt a child.  International adoption was far too expensive for me to consider.  I already had three biological children so adopting a baby in a domestic adoption didn't seem quite right to me.  At the suggestion of an adoption worker, my husband and I decided to give foster care a try.  In my opinion, this was not an angelic reason to foster a child.  There are people who foster children only out of the kindness of their hearts and that is truly an angelic quality.  I think most of us lie somewhere in the middle. Many people become foster parents unexpectedly when they take in children who are related to them.  Grandparents who take in their grandchildren fall into this category.  These people really deserve the angel label when they are willing to put aside their own interests to raise a child who is not their own.  There are some people who do it for the money.  I don't believe this is the best reason to foster but as long as there is love and caring involved, it can work too.  In defense of this last one, I think we should remember that daycare is a profession and done for money too.  I fell in love with fostering children with my very first placement because I love children and I could tell immediately how much the child needed to be loved.  My family was able to change a child's life because we opened our door and let her in.  I did end up adopting two beautiful little boys from the foster care system.  A friend told me that I saved their lives.  I am not sure if that is true but they have profoundly changed my life and my family.  If that is the work of an angel, then I will gladly sign up!