I tend to have a scarcity mindset – always thinking about if I’ll have enough money, enough time, enough patience, enough of me to go around. And being a foster mom, it always seems like there’s never enough.
There’s always more babies who need a home. There’s always more time I could spend with my babies. There’s always more therapies and developmental play activities I could be doing with them. There’s always something.
But in these last few weeks, I’ve been trying really hard to shift that mindset because the truth is, there’s no winning with a scarcity mindset.
I’ve come to realize that I have a lot. I’m blessed to have had my current baby for more than eight months. I have the money to pay a part-time babysitter who whole-heartedly loves on my baby four half-days a week so that I can focus on my work. I have a community who loves and supports me in all I do, even when I’m doing nothing.
And I’ve come to realize it’s this community that is the reason I can have so much abundance. A community of other foster parents help me get through the hard court days and the unknowns. A community of psychiatrists and therapists help me get through the worst of my mental health days and enjoy the good ones. A community of friends and family support me through both finances and time to help me keep my sanity through all the days.
So I’m asking my community for help, and I’m trying to recognize that abundance does not have to come just from me, but it can come from others in my life. I am re-stocking my foster care closet after seven years of fostering, and I have small and big items that need to be replaced.
If you want to help, I have put together a Baby Wish List that you can order from and have Amazon ship it directly to me. If you want to help but can’t help with the items on the wish list, then I could also use Amazon and DoorDash gift cards!
If supporting kids directly is more your thing, then I am also starting my toy drive for Snuggle Day 2026. Snuggle Day is a day social workers can shop for free for the kids on their caseload who are in foster care. Some of these kids have foster parents who can afford to give them Christmas presents on their own, and some have taken in so many kids on such a tight budget that they could not have Christmas morning without the social workers’ support.
If finances are tight but you find yourself with time on your hands, I’m always looking for people to come hang out with me and my babies, especially for a few hours on the weekend. You can snuggle a cute baby, and I can enjoy a hot coffee for once!
In all of theses ways (and more), I know I have a community that shares out of the abundance they have, even if the world wants us to have a scarcity mindset all too often.
If you’ve made it this far with me, thank you for the time you’ve given, and thank you for all the ways you share in your abundance, even in times of scarcity.
ESH Mom Life 