The purpose of this project is for the speaker to practice using vocal variety or body language to enhance a speech.
(Begin softly, standing still, almost like the audience is entering your home for a moment)
Them: “Mommy! Mommy! Are you up? Wake up!” Me: “I’m up! I’m up! I promise!” (Not really…)
Them: “Can I play with Copper?!” Me: “Be gentle!”
(Imitate crying) Them: “Nooo! Noooo! I don’t want to leave!” Me: We need to go. We’ve already been here for 4 hours; they’re closing; and we need to eat dinner and take baths.”
Them: “I don’t want to brush my teeth.” Me: “You will brush your teeth or the Plaque Man is going to visit your mouth at night and give you cavities!” Them: “What?! No!!”
Them: “I want something to eat!” Me: You’ve already eaten AND had snacks. It’s 9PM which means bedtime. Them: I can’t sleep if my tummy’s growling at night. Me: Kitchen’s closed. Sooner you go to sleep, the sooner you will wake up to eat breakfast.
Them: “More juice!” Me: “How about more juice please?”
Or my favorite… Them: “Where’s your husband?” Me: “I don’t have one yet.” Them: “Why? Nobody wanna marry you?” Me: “No, because the right one matters.” Them: Why? Just find a man….” I changed the subject.
(Pause. Look up and exhale slightly.)
That’s just a glimpse of what a single weekend in foster care can sound like.
Section 1 – The Noise and the Need
(Softer tone, reflective)
Myth 1: People often picture foster care as quiet compassion. Bedtime stories, smiling faces, tidy routines.
No. It’s LOUD.
It’s unpredictable.
It’s REAL.
REAL-ly loud. REAL-ly unpredictable.
Behind those little voices are fears, memories, and emotions that have no words yet so they come out as questions, tantrums, demands, laughter, and midnight snacks 😉
(Smile gently)
Each sound a clue.
Each question a child trying to understand if this new place – if you – are safe.
Section 2 – The Lesson in the Mess
(Warm tone, conversational)
One little girl had five accidents in one day. By the fifth, I was exhausted. I doordashed pull ups to the house ASAP.
I asked her, “Sweetheart, why aren’t you telling me you need to go?”
She looked up with big blue eyes and said,
“I don’t like different foster moms.” She’s FOUR.
(Pause. Let silence sit.)
This had absolutely NOTHING to do with the potty.
Rather, it was her loss. Change. Not knowing if the person helping her today – Me – would still be there tomorrow.
Her “accidents” weren’t defiance.
They were grief, confusion, and fear showing up the only way a four-year-old knows how.
Section 3 – Showing Up Anyway
(Calm, steady tone)
Myth 2: Many people think that foster care is about fixing kids.
No. It’s staying. Through the noise, the mess, the misunderstandings.
Showing up, again and again…. (emphasize) until trust takes root.
(Step forward, hand to heart)
When you say yes to fostering, you’re saying yes to chaos, yes to heartbreak, and yes to hope. ALL AT ONCE.
(Pause)
Is it glamorous? NO. Is it easy? HELL NO.
But it is sacred work. The kind that shapes and reshapes you from the inside out.
Section 4 – The Turning Point
(Brighten tone slightly, a small smile)
A couple days later, that same little girl was yelling from the bathroom –
“I did it! I did it! I told you!”
(Laugh lightly)
She wasn’t just proud she made it to the potty. She was proud she trusted me enough to tell me.
(Softer tone)
That moment had nothing at all to do with success in the bathroom. She felt SAFE.
The sound of fear being replaced by trust.
Section 5 – The Reflection
(Slower pace, heartfelt tone)
Every cry, every question, every “Mommy! Are you up?!” is their communication. I am not their mom but if they want to think I am for a few days, I am not going to correct them.
These kids don’t come to us broken; they come to us bruised.
And what they need isn’t perfection. It’s presence.
(Pause, gentle emphasis)
They need someone who stays.
(Look around the audience)
Someone who will listen through the chaos, love through the mess, and believe that even in the hardest moments… healing is happening.
Section 6 – The Closing
(Strong, warm tone)
The world doesn’t need more perfect homes. There’s no such thing.
Rather, it needs more open ones.
More people willing to stand in the gap between fear and safety, heartbreak and hope.
(Softly)
Myth 3: The greatest sound in foster care is a child’s laughter. No, that comes secondary. The first is the quiet peace that finally comes when they realize they’re safe. 💛
