Anytime someone asks me why I do what I do, I let them read this.
We got this poem as a gift when we graduated our Pride classes. Makes me cry everytime....
We pray/accept responsibilty for children
who sneak Popsicles before supper, who erase holes in math workbooks,
who can never find their shoes.
And we pray/accept responsibilty for those
who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
who never "counted potatoes", and never go to the circus,
who were born in places we wouldn't be caught dead,
and who live in an x-rated world.
We pray/accept responsibilty for children
who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money.
And we pray/accept responsibilty for those
who never get dessert, and have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their parents watch them die,
who don't have any rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren't on anybodys dresser, and whose monsters are real.
We pray/accept responsibilty for children
who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,
who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse out the tub,
who get visits from the tooth fairy,
who don't like to be kissed in front of the carpool,
who squirm in church or temple and scream in the phone,
whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose smiles can make us cry.
And we pray/accept responsibilty for those
whose nightmares come in the daytime,
who will eat anything, and who have never seen a dentist,
who aren't spoiled by anybody,
who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
who live and move but have no being.
We pray/accept responsibility for children
who want to be carried, and for those who must,
for those we never give up on and for those who don't get a second chance,
for those we smother, and for those who will grab the hand of anyone kind enough for offer it.
Everytime I have a rough day with my FS I read this and it reminds me why I do what I do.
Poem for foster parents 
