When your foster child kicks a hole in your wall, writes on your new furniture or finds other ways to destroy your property, you are learning some serious patience. Every area of foster care will let you practice using your patience.

Your foster daughter uses a whole package of baby wipes cleaning the floor or uses a couple of dozen diapers on her baby dolls, changing them repeatedly. Deciding to look at the positive points instead of the negative is a life saver. The floor is now cleaner than before and your foster daughter is learning from you since she does know how to change a diaper after watching you change them several times daily. You will learn to laugh because if you do not, you would find yourself very depressed and crying.

When some snotty woman comes up and asks,” Where is your black foster daughter’s mother?” you will learn to develop a thick skin, or say something back. You learn to be quite witty and clever when you are being asked invasive questions or your foster child is saying impolite things. You foster children will say some of the most embarrassing things in front of others. Right in the middle of a family gathering your child starts to talk in detail about his or her abuse or even times that they saw their parents do drugs, violence, or anything else that pops into his or her head.

Learn to be flexible and not being able to control everything can be a major learning experience. You are going along and foster a teenager dealing with attitude, hormones, and the next thing you know you are knee deep in bottles, diapers, and baby equipment. Shopping with an autistic child can bring some challenges. I left in the middle of shopping a few times along with six children (five under the age of four and one was an infant) because of my autistic foster son had a melt down. Not having control in a public setting was a hard thing for me to learn to deal with.


Foster parents tips at adoption.com
Parent Tips: Set 1-Parent Magic!