What Back-To-School Day Is Like For Foster Parents

Back-to-school day can bring about an array of emotions for parents, from excitement to nervousness to, sometimes, even relief.

For one foster family, it is positively joyous.

On Tuesday, foster mom Keshia Leeann Gardner shared her family's back-to-school day photos to the Love What Matters page, along with her story of what foster parenting has been like for her and her husband.

"We have been a foster family for over 10 years and in that time, we have fostered over 40 children," she wrote. "Being foster parents has been the most rewarding experience of our lives."

This year, Gardner shared a photo with four of her foster children, complete with some pretty flawless jump-shots.

As you can probably tell, Gardner looks quite a bit more excited about back-to-school day than the kids do. While back-to-school day can look different for everyone, Garder's foster family seems to be embracing all the joy they can.

Gardner also used the opportunity to share how meaningful being a foster parent has been for her.

"We started this journey because we wanted to be a blessing to others, but we are the ones receiving the biggest blessing," she wrote. "Sometimes, they come into our lives for a season and sometimes for a lifetime. We still stay in touch with most of our foster children that have aged out of the system and it warms our hearts when we get phone calls and visits on special occasions."

Refinery29 has reached out to Gardner for comment, and will update this article when we receive a response.

Welcome to Mothership: Parenting stories you actually want to read, whether you're thinking about kids right now or not, from egg-freezing to taking home baby and beyond. Because motherhood is a big if — not when — and it's time we talked about it that way.