A Day in the Life

May is foster care appreciation month. It is a very busy month with graduations, Mother's Day, school ending and tons of other things that seem to happen at the end of the school year. I thought it might be interesting for people who say "I could NEVER be a foster parent!" to actually know what we do go through on a given day. There is no such thing as a typical day, but here are some possibilities that have actually happened to either me personally or my foster mom friends.

6am (or earlier, depending on if you work outside the home and have to look presentable when dropping kids off at school)-Up, putting together outfits, socks & shoes for little ones who may have never felt the importance of looking cute at school before...we want them to because we love them.
Prepare breakfast- Some protein because little ADD brains function better with protein in bellies...most of our kids end up being diagnosed with ADHD even if we think they aren't. But it doesn't hurt any of our kids to have a decent breakfast...we do that because maybe nobody in their past has ever made sure they ate breakfast before and we know they need it.
Help them dress, if needed. Brush hair, teeth.....remind them to pick up pajamas, tie shoes, check book bags for signed notes, library books, ice cream money.
Drive them to school, pray, hug, kiss, encourage. Blow kisses as they look back one last time, give them the thumbs up and pray again.
To the countless moms who then drive to work....you have my utmost respect!!!
Return home...listen to Bible study online while loading dishwasher, washing machine, answer endless questions from preschooler who "once upon a time" didn't talk but now has discovered the fun of hearing you say "Uh huh" a thousand times a day. Make beds, pick up toys, clothes, candy wrappers (wonder where those came from).
Then the phone....talk to caseworkers, make appointments, encourage new foster moms, cry with old foster moms. Receive calls from schools, sometimes one a day saying someone has forgotten something or has a tummy ache or head ache or some unspecified illness....or heaven forbid (but it happens) someone is in trouble and will be suspended for three days...
More housework, dress, off to meetings, volunteering at the Big House clothes closet, grocery shopping for a huge family that seems to never stop eating...on rare occasions catching lunch with another foster mom...this is a real treat!
More phone calls, arranging visits with birthparents, siblings, therapists, doctors.
Pick up at school(s) One year I had five different schools! This can take up to an hour in itself...this is when a foster mom has to be creative and have something to do in the car for each age group or you have all out war. I bought a DVD player...best investment ever!
Drive to visits....sometimes these kids have two visits a week with birthparents or siblings.
Help with homework, prepare snack of some kind, encourage outdoor activities....supervised of course! Drive to practices....soccer, dance, music.
Prepare healthy dinner....hope they eat it.
Assist with bathtime, provide comfy pj's (that you will end up picking up in the morning)
Read book(s). Check homework, hugs and kisses, listen to more preschool questions. Say prayers.
Once they are in bed...
clean up after dinner, fold laundry, pick up toys left.
Maybe squeeze a little time in for your birth children...
Fall into bed exhausted.
This is during the school year....summer is a whole new experience.
Other things that happen but thankfully not every day:
headlice (one of ours has had them twice)
stomach viruses...that go through the whole family and usually hit in the middle of the night.
drawing on the house and car with a sharpie
hiding until the entire family is hysterical
parking the bike behind the car to see what happens
cutting sister's hair
pouring an entire bag of chocolate chips in bed
pulling a new tv off the wall at 5am
being awaken to the Lion King being watched at 3am
soiling clothes at six
wetting pants at seven (thankfully I think we have moved on from this)
breaking toys
breaking everything
I am sure my foster parent friends could add lots to this list...I could too if I weren't exhausted.

After saying all this I have to add that we get lots of love and joy from these kids. They are so worth the effort. It is the absolute hardest job I've ever tried to do but it is so rewarding when they hug you and say "I love you!" or when you attend a school program and see that little face find you in the crowd and light up because she knows you are there just to see her!!
So, do you think you have the stuff to do this job? I wouldn't recommend it without divine direction! But if that call comes, answer it.