Interesting column this week from Gloria Yoder. Gloria, an Amish mother from southern Illinois, writes the Amish Cook column.

It’s not unusual to find Amish serving as foster families for non-Amish children. When I sold books in Amish communities, I would bump into these situations from time to time.

This week Gloria answers several questions on fostering among the Amish. The Yoders are foster parents in addition to having two children of their own.

Not only that, but Gloria is due to have another in February. When you sign up to be an Amish mom, you sign up for a full and frequently double-time job.

Below are a couple of the questions Gloria answers. I think these are two of the most common on this topic – on the lifestyle foster children lead while in Amish homes, and the ethnicity of the children.

First, on clothing, schooling and more (bold added):

Are the children Amish just like our other children or are their differences in the way they are dressed? And what school will they attend? Okay, while they are in our Amish home they generally do dress Amish, except for the times the visit their parents, which is usually twice a week.

As for education, if they would be old enough to go to school they would go to public school, not our Amish parochial school. The same concept applies to medical care, while we are more likely to use natural remedies for our biological children. We more quickly take our foster children to the doctor.





And what about children of different races?

Do Amish folks accept other race children into their homes? The answer will vary upon whom you ask, but our response is that there is absolutely no difference to us. Color is only skin deep. I latch onto a quote my sister introduced me: “True love is colorblind.” That captures my heart perfectly. Our adorable foster children are biracial. In my way of thinking, it just makes both of them cuter than cute!

I love playing with Rayni’s curly dark brown hair. We’ve had people commenting that her curls kind of look like Daniel’s wavy hair, and their hair color is identical as well!

You can read the rest of the column here.

Image credit: Mark Goebel/flickr

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