My Foster Family is Just Different

I live in a small subdivision with nice, well kept houses.  I often think that my house must stand out like a sore thumb.  I have this vision in my head of a cartoon house with children hanging out of the windows, multiple dogs barking, and chickens running around the front yard.  Okay, I don't have chickens but I do have a lot of children and dogs (I have 3 of those).  I also don't live in fear of offending my neighbors but I do wonder what crosses their mind as they glance down the street at my house.  The most noticeable feature of my home is the number of cars parked in the driveway.  My husband and I each have a car, Michael and Brynna each have a car, and a dump truck that is part of my son's snowplowing business.  That adds up to five cars in the driveway and we are always shuffling them to let  one another out.  Michael also does work as a mechanic and there is usually an additional car parked in the garage that he is working on.  Brynna has friends who drive and they stop by and park their car at the curb.  I am sure you get the idea that we look a bit like a used car lot around here.  I also have three dogs who are free to roam in our fenced in back yard.  Barking is probably a factor for my neighbors although I am not going to ask unless they bring it up.   If I were a neighbor looking in, I am sure my first thought would be, "Who actually lives in that house?"  When you are a foster family, your family never looks the same from month to month.  Children come and go, social workers and lawyers come and go too.  My house is a very busy location.  Our family is out in public quite a bit too.  I remember one summer I did a lot of volunteering for the local Little League and all my kids would go with me to work the concession stand at the baseball fields.  A curious mother asked about my latest foster daughter.  I think she wasn't sure who she belonged too.  So I told her that the girl was mine.  She replied, " I thought she just like to hang out with your family because she is always with you!"  The changing status of my family was noticeable again this week when my Dad came from North Carolina for a visit.  I long ago faced the fact that my family is very overwhelming as a large group.  With that in mind, Dad and I visited over a two week period and he enjoyed smaller combinations of his grandchildren, depending on who was traveling with me on that day.  Dad gamely purchased dinner at a restaurant for whichever family combination appeared.  Thanks Dad!   The bottom line is that my foster family attracts attention in whatever situation we land in.  I may have a child of a different race, I may have a lot of children all at once, I may be carrying a baby in a car seat.  People are curious and will ask questions.  I am proud of my changing family and I do not mind answering polite questions.  However, beware of people who will rudely ask for personal information.  They are out there and it happens more often than it should.  I will happily give a quick explanation but I will not share the fact that my foster child has family difficulties.  As foster parents we need to protect our foster children's stories.  After all, it is their personal history and not our story to share.  Imagine being the foster child listening to foster parent describing their personal family secrets to a stranger!  I would be horrified or at least embarrassed if I was the foster child.  There are good people out there who are just curious and there are nosy people.  I learned how to tell the difference very quickly.  I am grateful that I have very nice neighbors who are not nosy and just accept the crazy cartoon house at the end of the street.