I'm currently in the process of becoming a certified foster parent. I'm very excited about fostering parenting for a number of reasons. First of all, I've always had a very "universal" view of motherhood. A child doesn't need to be "mine" to be for me to want to give what I can. I have no biological children and really view this as starting my "family."

I recently finished my foster parent training (one of the many steps). I was able to talk to actual foster parents with their foster children. One of the things we were told was to imagine all the things we've ever lost in our lives (parent dying, pet running away, house burnt down, favorite item being stolen, favorite toy broken, etc). The instructor said, "Now imagine all of those losses happening all at once--not just in one day--but in one minute...everything you know, gone." So heartbreaking.

Another thing I'm looking forward to about foster parenting is, not just helping children, but all the great people I'll now be surrounded by. The other soon-to-be foster parents at the training all had inspiring stories, were great motivators, and offered to help each other in so many ways. Plus, you have the support of excellent social workers. There are also local foster parent associations that allow foster families in their area to network, get training, and have support.

There were so many sad, touching, empowering stories from the weekend of training. For example, one foster parent told us how one of her foster kids hoards food under her bed. She frequently went hungry with her biological family. The foster mom prepared a box of non-perishable food for her to keep in her room, which she never eats--she just likes to know it's there. We also heard about a little boy who sometimes got right out of bed, got dressed, and got himself cereal. On other days, he would linger in bed for 30 minutes for no apparent reason. The foster mom would say, "Aren't you listening to me? No dessert for you tonight!" Pretty reasonable, right? She eventually figured out that the days he didn't want to get out of bed were days that they would be going out somewhere, and he was afraid he wouldn't be coming back.

We learned a lot of techniques for foster parenting, which is different than traditional parenting. For example, with your biological kids, you might put them into a "time out" for misbehaving. With foster kids, that often just feeds their fear of abandonment. They recommended having "time in," where during an argument or moment of tension, you stop and give them a hug.

If you have extra room in your heart and extra space in your home, I highly urge you to consider spreading some of your wonderful mothering around. It's in high demand! And...PS, if you haven't seen "Blind Side" with Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw, go see it. Then google the foster agencies in your area and start getting involved! If not you...then who?