By Sarah Police

Staff Writer

It took a minute for John Robinson to compose his thoughts when asked about the experience of fostering children. After resisting at first becoming a foster parent, Robinson knew his life was changed forever.

Robinson, physics teacher and wrestling coach at Coppell High School, and his wife Carolyn have been fostering children since 2006.

When a child is deemed unfit to live with their parents, they are put into state control. They are put into “foster care” where they temporarily live with a family until the state has decided what the child’s best interest is.

Some children stayed with the Robinsons for years, others a mere 24 hours. Luckily, most of the children they foster get adopted.

“Our first little boy came to us as a newborn; he was a very happy baby,” Carolyn said. “We watched him learn to sit up, crawl and then walk. He loved music, he loved to play with balls and drop things down the stairs.”

Fortunately, the children the Robinsons foster have vibrant personalities.

“One time he discovered magic markers and decided to color on our couch,” Carolyn said. “We still have a few marks to remind us of this precious curious little toddler.”

 So far, the Robinsons have fostered five children.

“We had two babies for two days,” John said. “Then we had a baby boy and we got him when he was three weeks old. We kept him until he was six months old and his grandmother took him.”

Not all of the children they foster go to live with family but all of the children leave the Robinsons because they have a better future ahead of them.

“It’s nice to help to get them off to a good start,” John said.

Carolyn, a stay at home mom, found herself with extra time on her hands as her three boys were moving onto high school.  She wanted to do something with her newfound spare time and while the decision to foster was a tough one for her husband, it was easy for her.

“I was trying to figure out what I should do with my spare time. I wanted to do something that would help other people,” Carol said. “I met another foster mother at a high school football game and when I went and introduced myself she said they were desperate for foster families. And so I left that game thinking ‘this is what I want to do.”

When she approached John, he was hesitant, thinking that they have already raised three children, why do they need more? Although he didn’t immediately jump on board, he eventually knew it was the right choice to become a foster family.

“My wife loves children and feels like that’s her god given gift,” John said. “And so she said I think we should be a foster family and I said I think that’s a bad idea.“

He agreed after months of debating and after making the tough decision to start fostering, the Robinsons then had to worry about how their children would react.

“I thought my own children at best would be ambivalent and at worse they might be jealous. And then the opposite came true. They have been a blessing to all of us,” John said.

Not only has the whole family transitioned to the fostering, but it also has helped John and Carolyn’s three biological children. At the time Lee was 19, Ben 16, and Matt 13.

“(Fostering) has taught my older sons how to love someone who hasn’t been loved,” Carolyn said.

John and Carolyn’s compassion isn’t just left at home as John brings his love when he coaches students on the wrestling team.

“He really cares about where we come from and how to make us better and he really wants us to shape into great men,” sophomore wrestler Cole Hansen said.

After telling their children about their big decision, the Robinsons needed to take numerous steps to prepare to foster. After expressing interest in fostering there is a required class that prepares parents to foster.

They also do background checks and have a case study done on the home. A case study is when a social worker can stop by the home and examine it and make sure it is suitable for a child.

After they were approved to foster, they got a quick response.

“They called the first day. It’s good but sad too because it meant that there are that many babies out there [that need help],” Carolyn said.

John says fostering is easier without the normal expectations that are expected of your own children. Currently, the Robinsons do not have any foster children in their care.

The Robinsons will be getting beck on the list to foster another baby in early December. They hope to continue to foster children and give children a better future.

“We have expectations for our own children but none for our foster children,” John said. “We can just love them without holding back.”