The start of our journey

My name is Heather, we have three boys 7,4 &1.  We have talked for years about wanting to become Foster Parents but never really took it very serious.  After my third pregnancy I decided that I just could not be pregnant again, I get way too big and my body just couldn't handle it anymore.  We have financially struggled for a long time and the reality of being able to afford any other kids was looking very slim for us but we really wanted our family to grow.  The final hit for my husband was when we were in Seattle's Pike Place on a Wednesday morning and it was just ridiculously crowded, he felt very strongly that there is enough people on this earth, that we needed to help some that were already here and not bring more in.  For me the final decision was made by how I felt (real girl thing, I know).  There was such a strong peace in the decision and a real sense of excitement for me.  So we went to our first meeting.  It was very nerve racking.  Looking around at a lot of the people there with us I couldn't help but fall into the judgment of, "these people are just here for the money not to really help".  I was soon very ashamed of myself as these people started telling their stories and telling why they were there.  Most of them were there for kinship; which is when a relative or friend looses their child and they are already placed in your home you just have to go get training to make it legal.  There was one lady there that wanted to specialize in severely behaviorally challenged children, these children tend to be older and are so much work that the money means nothing to you once you are in the situation.  It is a job that I couldn't even pretend I could take on and I all of the sudden started looking at all these people with new eyes of admiration.

The hope of this blog is to really let me express my feeling and experiences that we are coming up on.  If any at all reads this I hope it can open your eyes to what Foster Care really is.  Kids are not taken out of their homes needlessly, if anything these children are more often than not put back into their homes needlessly if that makes sense.  You do not get paid very much so it is very hard to "work the system" I am sure there are ways but I don't really care to find out.  Our hopes are to help a few children and their families and eventually have a sweet little girl that we will be able to call our own.