But most importantly Foster and Stepparent

I have never done anything the way other people do it. I never had biological children, but I have managed to collect 7 children and 8 grandchildren.  Along the way, my foster children, stepchildren, and grandchildren have taught me the life lessons that are the backbone of my message

Along the way I also learned that most of the parenting advice  I could find did not help very much.  We are only now learning how Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) affect  children.  Very little of the advice that I could find dealt the challenges of living with, loving, and trying to raise traumatized children.   My speaking and writing describes the lessons that I wish I could have learned from a parenting manual rather than trial and error.