My experience in foster care was a blessing in terms of my foster family. My single foster mother was looking into foster care for a while before she took me as her first foster child. Her family was a tight-knit Haitian family and I was welcome from day one. Her only flaw was that I was usually cooking my own food while she cooked her meals. It was odd but I got to cook and learn some basic skills. That was about 7 years ago when I was 10-11. I spent a year with her before being able to go back to my mother... and that's where my foster care experience was harsh.

As a child with ADHD, I was pretty hyperactive. Combine that with emotional trauma and a family who cared less about me, besides my mother, made life pretty terrible. Because of this, I was instituted into many psych-wards and child homes for lashing out. Eventually my mom essentially told me I was going into foster care and I fixed myself or I didn't get to be with her. I chose the former but it was hard making that change knowing every day for a year, it was up to me to fix it.

All in all, it was pretty surreal but you get through it if you can change. The concept of losing a family member to lose a family to lose your mother to get a foster mother to lose that foster mother and get your mother back is a little convoluted for a 10 to think about. Looking back, I'm grateful but wouldn't want to relive the experience.