For the majority of us when we think of our childhood around the holidays, we remember being surrounded by family, enjoying fancy meals, singing Christmas Carols, waiting impatiently for Santa, the excitement of the presents and the TV specials that always end in joy and cheer, however this isn't usually the experience felt by children living in foster care. Just imagine for a moment what it's like to be living in a strange house and with a strange family instead of your own home for the holidays. Many are expected to follow the Christmas traditions of the foster family and to ignore their own. As a foster kid, you're expected to fit in and be grateful. Some believe you should be grateful that you're not in a group home or shelter, but honestly you're just an kid that wants to go home and be with your own family. It can send your senses into overdrive, making you feel very anxious. You wonder what you did wrong to make you end up in foster care, more importantly, does anyone care that you're in foster care. You feel like you have no control over what happens to you and that you don't matter to anyone. These feeling can become triggers that can last a lifetime.
These kids often report feeling vulnerable, lonely, sad, and depressed at a time where they are expected to feel exactly the opposite. So please, keep these kids in your thoughts and prayers as they struggle through this Christmas Season with not always pleasurable experiences.