THE VOICES OF MOTHERHOOD : Jackie Gwaltney, ORANGE

Age 46, lives with husband Steve and their five children. In 1988, the family began adopting high-medical-risk foster children. Since then, seven children have lived with the Gwaltneys. Their current family is made up of: their two sons Eric, 20, and Ian, 7; Joseph 4, of whom they are legal guardians, and foster children Mario, 14 months, and Skyler, 5 months.

“My dad died when I was 9, and my mother raised us. She didn’t have a complete formal education, but she had a lot of love. We always took in people who needed help. I grew up caring for people and reaching out.

I was working for a law firm almost four years ago when I had the opportunity to quit work. I realized nobody was going to care in the law firm if I was there 10 years down the line, but my kids would.

We give them a lot of love and support. We are Christians, so we have a strict set of values. We do believe in discipline and support and strict guidelines.

I don’t believe in the promiscuous lifestyles that you see on TV. I don’t like all the violence. I believe we need to get back to the family and caring for one another.

In 1988 we got Joey. I thought if I (was going to) stay home I didn’t just want to baby-sit. I wanted to love someone else’s child, to love and nurture them. He led us into being high-risk foster parents. He was born addicted to drugs, (and) he has cerebral palsy.

Since then we have had seven foster children. We had one child stay 2 1/2 years before being sent to an adoptive home. That was real hard. We had two babies die in the last few months.

I think by taking kids in we are showing our children that you need to reach out to other people. I just think we are doing something to make a difference.

I think it was my mom’s influence. We were loved so much, we had a lot of love in our heart to give.

My kids are really good kids. My greatest challenge has been with school. That seems to be hard for me. They are just more social than I was. They don’t buckle down. I think I dropped the ball by letting them do (their homework) on their own.

The rewards are having your kids love you and wanting to be with your family and enjoying each other. I think our boys know beyond a measure of a doubt that we love them.

Motherhood is the greatest joy you will ever experience, and it can also be the greatest frustration. As long as you love them with all your heart and kiss them and give them your time, that it is the greatest reward you will ever get.

We all make mistakes. If our children end up loving us and caring for us and they are good people, then you have been really blessed. “