Rewarding work????

Funny, I've just looked at my last post and have been pleasently unsuprised that I find working in the woodland so rewarding.

People who know me, in real life.....blood and guts and screaming loudly...know that i look after, very often children with many and varied difficulties.

Others have very definate views on this habit. Some view me as a saint, to be reverred..'Oh you are so wonderful to do this. I've always wanted to but I dont think I could spare the time'
Some view me, quite frankly as mildly insane others take a wide berth, avoiding me and mine as toxic, something to be feared.

I've been looking after other peoples kids for quite a number of years now and rarely have I found it rewarding!

Why?

I'm not sure.

My own children are more grown up, rounder in thinking human beings thanks to fostering other children. They have seen and heard retold harrowing tales from childrens early memories, things most adults never come across in a whole lifetime.

The children we have welcomed into our home and family have had labels which have stuck to them faster than any superglue and have followed them relentlessly wherever they have gone.
ADHD, attachment disorder, ODD and compulsive disorders, not to mention neglect, torture and abuse.
Is it any wonder that most have fallen short of achievements and expectations of their peers?

Resilience, continuity, thought, understanding, mentoring , consistency and love are more often way down on the important list of surviving tactics and solutions if they are there at all.

Disorders and negative happenings are labels and badness. They say what has happened and what is but are unhelpful and destructive.

The other stuff helps us and others move on , make sense and move forward.

Most of the children we have looked after have come to us entrenched in a system designed to help them but often makes them and continues to make them reliant on that system.
Forever needy, forever lacking.

I live in hope that one child will hold onto the positives and reject the system that needs them more than they need it and embraces the wonderful possibilities this earth holds.