Cambridge mother has fostered 56 children

Published on Stuff.co.nz and in the Waikato Times

When you've fostered children for 27 years, you'll have stories to tell.

Cambridge's Bronwynne Hutching got used to having nine children in her house at once, five of them - usually - her own.

Hutching has fostered 56 children, but there were also the neigbourhood kids who would stay. Her own mother provided the example.

"My mother unofficially took in a little girl who I still think of as my sister. We still talk, and she confides in me."

She runs an alcohol- and drug-free household and her own children helped to set examples.

"You learn to remain calm when you see some pretty bizarre things," she said. "It was easier when my kids were around. Children don't like an old lady telling them what to do. There was a 12-year-old boy who said to me, 'I didn't know stealing was wrong, I just thought it was something you did.' They don't always have sensible parents to learn from.

"If you said 'no', one boy would automatically pull down his trousers. When he ran into the road, you couldn't tell him to stop, so you had to tell him to look at the cars, because he liked cars, and he would stop long enough for me to get to him and cross with him. I'm just pleased he didn't end up in prison."

She has looked after depressed and suicidal children, mentally disabled children and children from broken homes.

"Those are hard things for the children to deal with."

Mother's Day will be a muted affair: fish and chips and movies with the grandchildren. She'll probably hear from a few of the others, too.

"Some still keep in touch. Some ring every day, a few times a day ... others on birthdays. But you have to create your own little breaks."

And that's her message to all mothers: give yourself a break.

"I got sick of doing washing, so I stopped washing at the weekends. And I serve leftovers on Sundays. Try to have a sense of humour.

"I've always had a big heart for children, but I'm having a break from teenagers."