Alright, I'm going to do it...I'm going to get this video done and bring fostering to light. The "wish it, dream it, do it" written on the Novotny wall has inspired me! I will not worry!

At home, a little worried...Why do I not have a Mac?

I'm sitting in front of my PC. Wondering why my husband and I didn't want a Mac. We have a few PC's, no Macs. "We aren't creative people" he tells me. We are people who "use the left side of our brain" one of my daughters tells me today. I love science, math, non-fiction, assignments that are very literal and definitive. When people give me freedom I don't know what to do with it! I'm a nurse, a nurse who follows doctor's orders. I like it that way. Now, mind you, I feel I could write the orders just as well as a doctor sometimes, but there are rules and reasons for orders. Is this why I like PC's? They are quick and get to the point? My husband says Macs are for artistic people. I'm not artistic. The abilities of a Mac are wonderful....beautiful even. The computers themselves are beautiful, the monitors impress. And right now I need one. I need one to edit. I managed to do a Powerpoint with my PC, it was good, I figured it out, but man, a Mac has more features for the Powerpoint. I think my story of the Novotny family came to life anyway. It did help though that my subject was such a positive woman who really made me believe in fostering, her words and her embodiment made the Powerpoint 'glow.' And that was on a PC!

Now I am anxiously awaiting going to the computer lab to start work on editing my two interviews that are video taped. I have to go to the lab because I need a Mac, we do not have a program for me to edit on our PC. It's fine, it's just this one class and I need Dale's help anyway. I'm a little worried, worried about how I am going to get the points across that I want to regarding fostering. Worried about actually making a cohesive, beautiful video. If I had a Mac would I be working on the editing anyway?

I believe my drive (and the help of Vicki and Dale) and belief in this new found cause--fostering, will get me through this film making process, Mac or no Mac. My husband now tells me we will probably get a Mac in the near future, for our kids' sake. I sure hope I can use my new found creative abilities in the rest of my nursing classes!

A Home for Three

Janet, Larry, and their sixteen year old foster son's home on 29th Street

The two sets of foster parents I have interviewed are both white with black children that they have either adopted or are still fostering. When I posed the questions about race and parenting the kids I got very different answers. Anne had one class on African American culture to prepare her for her children, she said basically it taught her how to care for and "do" black hair. She said she could've used some more classes. She is learning as she goes, her children are surrounded by people who are of the same race at school and at home, I truly believe this helps a great deal. Janet, on the other hand, raises all the children she has ever had as foster kids all the same. They are to respect her and her husband and she will respect them and their culture. They are to speak correct English, go to school, and their attire must look and fit appropriately (no jeans that are falling to the knees or showing their underwear). They are able to listen to their music, watch the movies and programs they like, and have their friends over. She believes all children should be raised the same.

The clip below has an African American woman at the beginning with very interesting comments. She would get mad at her foster parents (who later became her adoptive parents) because there were books in their house that were on How to Raise a Black Child. She could not understand why they needed a manual for her and not their other white children. They explained that they "don't have all the answers. We need to look to people who have parented black children who are black."



Struggles for Identity clip site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTUR1FP3NbI

Resources on How to Raise a Different Race?

Continuing Story...

Visiting Anne in her home opened my eyes to the fact that she had numerous obstacles to overcome with all her foster children, six of the seven are African American, a different nationality than Anne herself. My second interview is with a Caucasian couple who have taken in a young African American boy with considerable medical issues. Do white people, no matter how well-meaning, truly have any idea what it is like to be black? Do they need special training or classes or support groups? Will they even help? Obvioulsy these families face challenges, but does having white foster parents interfere with the development of the children?

The Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 allows for interracial fostering and adoption. Some child welfare groups are calling for a change. The NPR blog site that is under Links has many interesting comments regarding this issue.

A House Big Enough For Eight

This is the home where one woman is making a change in the lives of children who need her

The Novotny Home

On March 17, 2009 I had the pleasure of being invited to the home of Anne Novotny. She is a single woman who fostered and adopted 7 children.

Janet and Larry's Home

In the Beginning...

"These are all of our children, and one day we will either profit from or pay for whatever they become" -James Baldwin