[jackie]

We have three bio children and will finalize Thursday on the adoption of our 11 yo son. We are thrilled that he is here and has made some great improvments. He is right in the middle of our bio children in age and they all get along pretty good. We have had our challenges but overall things didn't seem too much. We had talked about foster parenting in the past, but thought it best to just adopt. Now we are talking about foster parenting again even though we know it will mean heartache when a child leaves our home. We know there will be joys also as we hope to be able to adopt some of the children along the way.
My son's caseworker is amazed almost at the differences she sees in our son. She has told me he is a different child. She even said he was like a wild child at one point. I have all his records and I know that is probably close to being true, but I really didn't see dealing with him as that huge of a challenge. We've talked to a few people about fostering and all have said that we seem to be natural at doing this and have encouraged us to go for it. The only thing is that not everyone encouraging us is familiar with the foster parent world. I know the caseworkers see alot and I put alot of stock to their opinions, but what I am wondering is...

Are there things that I am missing?
What are some of the biggest challenges to foster parenting?
What about the affects of this on my children already at home?
(our youngest is 9, so we would ask that the children be no older than her.)
What advice can you give me that you wish you knew from the beginning?

Thank you very much.

Blessings,
Jackie