Key Issues

Arghh!

Methinks me readers lost their marbles after me last post... A saint they be callin' me, maties!

Actually, I thank you guys for your kind words. Understand, of course, I am far from sainthood!

I am actually very discriminate with my compassion.

Notice I reserve very little of said commodity for worthless adults and the idiot adults who enable their worthlessness with their idiocy.

But the children are different. They have no control over what household they are born into. Despite that, if they choose to become worthless as adults, I hold them accountable for that failure.

See? I'm no coddler.

But I foster children for many reasons. Here are some that I can come up with off the top of my head:

1) Regretfully, character is something I didn't appreciate (in its entirety) until I was an adult. If I can infuse some of this valuable commodity into a few younger models, maybe I can prevent future worthlessness to some degree.

2) Although I'm always in favor of private funding over state, this system could actually be worse. If there were county homes (similar to orphanages) staffed by state payroll, that would be worse. I appreciate that the private sector is picking up the bulk of the responsibility here, and I'd like to do my part to keep it that way.

3) I like big families.

4) I need a justification for my favorite hobbies: movies, putt-putt, little league games, soccer, day trips, basically any activity that gets me out of the house.

This little guy may be our last foster child. After three years of fostering and six long-term placements, we are on the verge of burnout.

Of course, I'm always campaigning. Those of you who say you can't do it because you wouldn't be able to handle it when they leave...try again.

That excuse didn't work for me, and therefore it's not going to work on me. I, myself, delivered that line to a friend and mentor prior to becoming a foster parent.

She said simply, "Let me tell you something, if it doesn't absolutely rip your heart out of your chest every time a child walks out of your door, you're not cut out for this anyway."

Well, that shut me up. You have to have a heart in order to lose it.