We used to have a poster here who was only about 34 years old but had dedicated her single life to taking in foster kids, and had already helped dozens of children in the system. I really miss her posts because I admired her to pieces.
For the record, when I was in my teens, I wagered back and forth over whether I ever wanted kids. When I got married at 23, I had hoped to have two children by birth and two by adoption. It's very important to me to give other kids the same opportunity I had. Seeing as that did not work out... I am going to be 41 this year and while I know it's all the rage with celebrities now days, I have no desire to start birthing children in my mid-forties, nor do I feel the desire to become a single or even foster parent. I've never had a "gift" with children as so many seem to have.
My main role, personally, seems to be in supporting the parents. Maybe they need someone to vent to, make them laugh, provide interactive adult conversation, feed or watch the kids while they take five or get something done... I'm always amazed at how something so small to us can mean the world to another person.
A few years ago a good friend of mine had an important meeting with someone at her home early in the morning. Being a morning person myself, I didn't mind getting up at about 5 AM to be able to make the hour drive to her house to help tidy up and look after the munchkins. When I got there, my friend already had everything done, and the kids were perfectly behaved (of course, at 7 in the morning they were probably too groggy to cause too much mischief.
) Truthfully, all we did was watch cartoons the whole time, which is something I love to do anyway!
When her meeting was over, my friend started talking about what a big "help" I'd been and I looked at her blankly. "Uh, you do realize that all I did was sit on your couch, eat your food, and watch your TV, right??? I should probably be the one thanking you!"
Hey, if that's helping raise our next generation, you can count me in.
(On a serious note, lately it's been on my heart to try to reach out to the teenage and 20-something age range...)
For the record, when I was in my teens, I wagered back and forth over whether I ever wanted kids. When I got married at 23, I had hoped to have two children by birth and two by adoption. It's very important to me to give other kids the same opportunity I had. Seeing as that did not work out... I am going to be 41 this year and while I know it's all the rage with celebrities now days, I have no desire to start birthing children in my mid-forties, nor do I feel the desire to become a single or even foster parent. I've never had a "gift" with children as so many seem to have.
My main role, personally, seems to be in supporting the parents. Maybe they need someone to vent to, make them laugh, provide interactive adult conversation, feed or watch the kids while they take five or get something done... I'm always amazed at how something so small to us can mean the world to another person.
A few years ago a good friend of mine had an important meeting with someone at her home early in the morning. Being a morning person myself, I didn't mind getting up at about 5 AM to be able to make the hour drive to her house to help tidy up and look after the munchkins. When I got there, my friend already had everything done, and the kids were perfectly behaved (of course, at 7 in the morning they were probably too groggy to cause too much mischief.
) Truthfully, all we did was watch cartoons the whole time, which is something I love to do anyway!When her meeting was over, my friend started talking about what a big "help" I'd been and I looked at her blankly. "Uh, you do realize that all I did was sit on your couch, eat your food, and watch your TV, right??? I should probably be the one thanking you!"
Hey, if that's helping raise our next generation, you can count me in.
(On a serious note, lately it's been on my heart to try to reach out to the teenage and 20-something age range...)
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