Children need lots of support as they grow. A child particularly needs support from their parents. However, sometimes one or more parents may be absent from the child’s life. In that case, it’s up to the community to help. Those who step forward and decide to become foster parents will find that doing so offers them many wonderful rewards. Foster parents can participate in a child’s life and try to make a positive change in a young person’s life and helping them on their way to full-fledged adulthood. Many foster parents find that not only do they personally benefit from being a foster parent to another child, but they also see that being a foster parent means the other children in their own family benefit from the experience at the same time. In short, they not only get to love their own kids. They also get the wonderful experience of spreading their love to other people.
Making Positive Changes
Many foster children come to a family having suffered in some way. A child may have been abused by the system or even by a very close relative. A foster parent can reach out to that child early in their growth. In doing so, they can help them set up new patterns of growth. The parent can serve as a mentor to the child, teaching them new and more efficient life habits. They can also help guide them to avoid any previous harmful behaviors. For example, a foster parent can help a child by showing them how to cope with frustrations in life. They can teach them such problems are only a temporary obstacle that can be quickly and successfully overcome. A foster parent can ultimately help the child by providing them with useful, thoughtful solutions that help abused children overcome existing issues and find a new, more efficient pathway in life.
Teaching Others
Foster parents are role models to the children they foster. A foster parent serves as a resource the child can turn to again and again when they are in need of help. Foster parents show the kids they foster how to create healthy, mature, adult relationships with others by example. A foster parent may demonstrate to a young man how to treat women with respect. In doing so, they set an example the young man can follow for the rest of his life. Foster parents also show children what a good family dynamic looks like. For example, they can demonstrate how to disagree with others in the family without being disagreeable. They can show the foster child how they resolve family conflicts without resorting to physical violence and without being emotionally abusive to another family member.
Sharing Family Love With Siblings
When people become a foster parent, they have the opportunity to bring another member into their family. All members of the family benefit from this process. Older children benefit when a new family member comes into the fold as they now have another sibling to love and adore. Younger family members may have a sibling now who is almost their own age. Younger children love having a family member who is also a friend at the same time. A grade schooler can have a friend around all the time who shares their specific interests. When they come home from school together, the two can head to the backyard for some quality play time. An older child may appreciate the opportunity to no longer be the youngest member of their family now. Instead, they can have lots of fun being the big sister to the new arrival.
Creating New Bonds
Perhaps above all, becoming a foster parent means creating new and wonderful bonds. As a foster mom or dad, the foster parent gets the terrific opportunity to form new family ties. Expanding a family in this way makes love grow. When a foster parent provides a child with a home, the experience doesn’t end when the foster child leaves. It continues for the rest of their lives. Many foster parents continue to stay in close touch with the children they’ve fostered for decades. During this time they have the opportunity to continue to be involved in someone’s life in a positive and loving manner. Watching a child grow up and become a successful adult is one of life’s most profound and rewarding pleasures. They get to experience the very same fantastic ties and bonds with other, needy children in addition to their own.
Granted, foster parenting isn’t for everyone, but having patience and being willing to help children in need, even the more difficult children, can be incredibly rewarding for you and hopefully the child. You could have the power to greatly affect yourself and the children in your care physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
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