What being a special kind of mother means to Erin and her family…
Being a mother, a parent, having a family?
Being someone in their mid twenties, I am now starting to witness my friends and family transition from being children, who were relying on their own parents, to suddenly becoming parents themselves. As an observer of this transition, it has always intrigued me to see this sudden switch of roles from childhood to parenthood.
The more I have increasingly watched this process become a reality with many of my friends and family, the more I have come to appreciate the importance of foster families to our world. I have increasingly noticed how much love, dedication, patience, acceptance and time these families give to, in some cases, well over 30 children over their lifetime.
One of my amazing friends, Erin, is an example of someone who has helped me come to this conclusion. We originally met last year when we started working together through our disability agency ‘Hireup’ and we have become very good friends ever since. Throughout this last year I have been getting to know Erin and working with her and I have been amazed and immensely interested in hearing all about her kids, husband and the inner workings of how they go about coming together in being a wonderful foster family, which is such an amazing part of society.
As Erin explains, she and her family really started foster caring just ‘by chance’ when three young members of her extended family were in need of care for a extended period of time. A few years on, Erin and her family have been known to take in over ten foster children at one time, all at various ages, have differing abilities and from a range of backgrounds. As she goes on further to beautifully explain, the reason why she and her family feel that they can take so many kids into their home is because they have ‘such good morals and values’ with a lot of love to give. It is also due to the belief that it’s their way to give back to our community and that they are prepared to give each child a second chance. Along with this, Erin has stated that on a personal level that being a foster parent has allowed her to become her ‘true self’ and given her a sense that she is fulfilling one of her purposes in life.
As a foster mum, Erin describes her daily life as being just like any other mother’s. Her working day really starts as soon as she wakes up, ‘rallying the troops together’ and getting ready for school, preschool and work. Despite their lives being a bit busy, Erin points out the key to her family perfectly managing is that everyone always works as a team and accepts that ‘no two days are exactly alike’.
Although Erin acknowledges that the experiences of foster caring varies from family to family, she feels that the joy and happiness foster caring brings to herself and her family ‘is not like any other’ as it provides her family with ‘something extra special’. For the children themselves, Erin feels the benefits of being in a brilliant foster home offers a child a remarkable stepping stone as it offers a mix of a stable routine, consistency and lots of love.
Lastly, if you are reading this and thinking of ever doing foster care, Erin’s recommendation is that ‘it is for anyone and everyone’ and there are ample benefits to it. So if you are interested please contact one of the numerous Foster Care registration offices in your state so that you can find out what a truly rewarding experience it is.