Foster Parent Training
I had assumed that foster parent training would be a breeze. After all, if anyone knew how to be a parent, I did. I had raised three kids of my own, had taken a course load heavy in psychology in school, and had even briefly worked as a counselor, helping other people with parenting problems cope with difficult kids. Nonetheless, training for foster care ended up being one of my greatest challenges.
You see, the foster parent training course was extremely intensive. It really involved letting go of a lot of preconceived notions about parenting and foster care. I had assumed that being a foster parent would be just like being a normal parent but with certain additional issues. You would have to deal with children with serious abandonment issues, for example, and with a lot of oversight from the state. What I realized during foster parent training, however, was how different caring for foster kids is than caring for your own kids. The foster children have it rougher than anyone. For whatever reason, be it abuse, missing parents, or a drug or behavioral problems, they are shuffled from house to house and kept as wards of the system. This makes it very difficult for them to develop the same kind of meaningful connections that most children have.
That is why foster parents training try to emphasize discipline and compassion in equal measure. Being a good foster caregiver means knowing that you will have to be firm and set limits, but also that you have to give a lot of compassion to kids who have had it very rough. For a while, I almost considered giving it up. I wasn’t sure I was up to the task and, as the foster parent training went on, my doubts accumulated. I ended up sticking with it, though, and I’m glad I did. Taking care of foster children has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.The truth is, no matter how tough the foster parent training course is, it can’t really prepare you for the realities of running a 24-hour foster home. Some of these kids have family and personal problems that will break your heart, and the stress of providing them with what they need can be crippling. Nonetheless, in the long run it is worth it. To make a difference in the life of such a child can make you feel really good about yourself and show you that your life means something.