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That's typically the first question we've gotten whenever we've told someone new that we've decided to become foster parents. Our kids are funny little things and it's interesting to watch their individual reactions. Each response is very fitting given their birth order.
Adri is 7, the first-born, the responsible one. She is also quite the worrier so we have to be very careful in how we explain the process of foster care. If she thinks kids can be taken from their parents, she will be worried about that happening to her the next time her dad forgets to bring her home from school (he's the principal, she attends his school, and he has left her more than once. Another story for another time...). She is a helper, though, and seems to embrace the idea that we can "help" someone for a time. Her biggest concern is whether or not we will foster a girl and if they can be friends.
Cooper is 4, the middle child, the mischievous kid who breaks the mold. If you ask him what Papa Shep (my dad) says he is, he'll look at you with his big blue eyes and a grin the size of his face and say "a challenge." When we've talked with the kids about all of this, we have stressed that these children may not have had the same rules as we have and that it will be a joint effort as we establish family rules. So Cooper's main objective is to get to be the one that says "we don't say stupid or butt."
(I'm sorry, future Emory, but I love this picture.)
Emory is 3, the baby boy, and has no clue what's going on other than he recently moved into a room with his brother and doesn't like it that some of "his toys" are in "the kid's room."
Obviously we understand the types of scenarios that are going on in homes where kids are taken into custody. Sometimes processing all of that can be overwhelming, so the innocence of how our kids process this provides a relief. We pray continually for their little hearts and minds as we begin this.
