Good Parents

In our society children are sometimes regarded as status symbols and parents are judged by the achievements of their kids. But parents of children with disabilities know their kids may never be able to excel at school or sports, become popular, or grow up to get well-paid jobs.

No child should ever be used as a status symbol, but all parents do want and need to know if they're doing a good job.

While raising our foster kids I wondered how I would be able to tell whether I had been a good mother or not when they grew up. They were unlikely to be employed or succeed at other things our society values, including those that truly are important.

Looking back I can see my parenting from a different perspective. Now I understand what really mattered was that I hung in there even when raising them wasn't easy and, most important of all, loved my kids in spite of all their problems,