A True Account of Being a Foster Family: Travel Mama's Foster Family Diary It's been a long time since I wrote a foster family diary. Lately, I've been busy with company projects and had to take a long-haul flight, finally giving me time to slowly organize this "Foster Family" series. As I write this, we're preparing to welcome our 7th child next week. Looking back, it's amazing how far we've come. Last time, I talked about the first foster child to come to our home, a one-and-a-half-year-old boy. In the world of foster care, he was probably the happiest from his original family. His mother only needed a short-term referral due to a sudden hospitalization, and he was the only one with a definite schedule to return home. At the time, we thought that the psychological burden of this kind of "short-term visitor" would be the lightest. Later, we realized that none of the subsequent cases were as "simple" as his. When I picked him up, my son was already in sixth grade.

A happy thing, a happy thing, days go by every day, and it can be incredibly tiring. Sometimes, this weariness is like a thick fog, lingering on the morning streets, obscuring the view ahead and extinguishing any enthusiasm. Desires are the driving force of life. To wake up each day and have the motivation to continue completing the work and tasks before us, we need some desires. We hope to earn enough money to buy an apartment, hope for a quick promotion, hope the weekend comes early, and some people simply hope there's a table at their favorite restaurant for lunch. These desires, big or small, are the sparks in our hearts, burning and preventing our daily lives from being drowned out by the cold reality. Desires and disappointments coexist, just like air; we breathe desires every day. Without them, we probably wouldn't survive many days. However, desires have a twin brother called disappointment. It doesn't always appear; whether you encounter it depends on your luck and your skills. Sometimes, disappointment comes so suddenly, catching us off guard.

我們為什麼成為寄養家庭？ 上次講到我哋帶第六個寄養小朋友去旅行，終於成功帶佢坐第一次飛機。 之後有啲朋友問我：「你哋點解會開始做寄養家庭？」 「係咪本身就想幫人，想做好事？」 但老實講，其實本身個原因唔係乜偉大抱負， 反而係一個家庭討論咗好耐都未有答案嘅決定。 我哋本身有一個親生仔，但我一直都希望有第二個小朋友， 唔一定要自己生，我比較想係用領養嘅方式。我一直相信，親情唔係靠血緣，而係靠共同生活、 靠你日復日咁教、咁湊、咁一齊過日子。 但我太太唔係一開始就贊成。 佢猶疑咗好耐。 佢話自己唔肯定做唔做到「視如己出」， 又擔心外人點睇， 會唔會有人背後講你「唔係親生，梗係唔同」？ 又或者，萬一將來

我想生活喺一個讚美城市 以前細個成日聽：「做得好就係應該，唔好驕傲。」 喺學校考試攞高分，老師可能只會話：「下次繼續努力。」 屋企人就更直接：「唔使開心得滯，你隔籬阿明都攞100分。」 咁樣大個，久而久之，你會發現自己學識咗一種奇怪嘅能力：欣賞留喺心，嘴巴閉緊。 明明見到身邊人做得好、表現出色，心裏面係佩服嘅，但講出嚟就變成：「嗯，好啦，咁囉。」 「你好叻」、「我欣賞你」、「你今日表現得好好」呢啲字眼，硬係講唔出。   反而外國人就唔同。我記得有次同個外國同事開完會，佢當住成team人面前話我做得「Absolutely brilliant!」然後拍吓膊頭，再加句：「We’re luc

寄養小朋友的第一次飛行 呢個係我哋第六個湊嘅寄養小朋友。 經過重重困難，我哋終於第一次成功申請帶寄養小朋友出國旅行，亦都係佢人生第一次坐飛機。未出發，佢已經每日興奮到倒數。話要帶畫簿，畫飛機畫雲。又話想買條新裙仔，去旅行要著靚靚。到咗機場，佢好安靜。 上到機，成程望住個窗，一句說話都冇。 我問佢點呀？開唔開心？ 佢過咗一陣先細細聲講句： 「原來天空係咁㗎。」 對於佢嚟講，呢個畫面好可能係第一次；寄養小朋友唔似你自己個仔女，佢哋唔一定會記得你係邊個，甚至，過多幾年，佢連你個樣都未必記得清楚。但我好希望，佢會記得，曾經喺佢讀幼稚園嘅某一年， 搭過一次飛機， 睇過天上面嘅雲。 可能係好微細嘅記憶，