Really enjoying foster parenting classes!

I didn't think I would be getting so into the foster care classes. I have seven more to go. I really came into them thinking that I pretty much knew how to be a parent. They keep emphasizing, however, that you have to be above and beyond the parent you are to your biological children in order to be a foster parent. And, it's not just because the kid might have been abused or neglected. There are so many other issues to deal with even if the foster child doesn't have health or overt emotional problems.

Here are some things that stood out to me personally.
We learned about the history of adoption, kinship, and foster care. For example, not too long ago, kids were fostered or adopted so that they could help with work on the farm! Actually, the term, "put up for adoption" came from when orphans were actually "put up" on an auction block. We've come a long way since then.

Being a foster parent means so many things. It means you have to not overbook yourself so that you can keep your stress level down enough to be there for the child. Also, you are required to work directly with the birth parents. It's interesting, because for some people open adoption seems like a new concept, but when you start in with foster care, it broadens even the most broad perspective of openness with the birth parent. You are actually there to mentor them, to help them learn how to take care of their own children. Even despite the terrible things they have done to their own children, you have to be forgiving and believe that they can and will change. Of course, we really want to get lucky and be allowed to keep a child and grow our own family, but ultimately, the birth parents can earn them back through their own actions. I can't think of anything harder or that could test Christ-like attitudes more than being a foster parent. You really have to be brave, adventurous, forgiving, generous, selfless, and be able to go with the flow!
Even if the foster children go back to live with their birth parents after being in your home, you are encouraged to keep in touch with them and in some cases, you actually become a part of their family in a way.
Another thing that is actually in your contract as a foster parent here in OK is to keep a "Lifebook", which is a scrapbook of the child's development, people close to them, etc. I asked if it can be done online, and they said sure as long as it is not public. I think I would do part online, part in print, because I've heard that sometimes these life books get lost when kids sometimes go back and forth to their biological parents and foster or group homes, so I would definitely keep a copy somewhere.
They also talk about keeping the child's ties to kin and culture, which can mean a lot of different things. For example, extended family would be nice to include in the child's life if they are willing. Also, things like food, clothing, friends, religion, activities and sports, etc that the child would be interested in is encouraged. I think that there is a misconception about culture sometimes- that foster parents think they only have to figure it out if the child has a different skin color. But that is an incorrect assumption- even people with the same skin color can have vastly different cultures. I think that my husband and I came from pretty different cultures, even though we are both kinda white. Tom even has two entirely different cultures between his dad's side of the family and his mom's. I guess my mom's and dad's family cultures are also very different from each other as well. A lot of it has to do with different religions that people are, where they live, what they eat, how they deal with stress, how they spend money, how they talk, how they express affection, how they buy gifts for birthdays, how they celebrate holidays, etc.
The same thing goes for any two family cultures, so the fun is in bringing them together.

Oh, and I'm totally not trying to say that I AM all of these things that a foster parent should be. They are my goal, though.