Kelli Appling

I have two biological children and have raised 12 foster/adopted children. I became a grandparent at 28 years due to there only being a 9-year difference between me and my oldest foster child. I am currently raising my 13th child which is my 8-year-old granddaughter that I formally adopted. During the time that I raised my children, I was a Boy Scout leader for 9 years, taught parenting classes and also assisted friends and family with their children, and provided helpful parental advice.

My family moved to Shaker when I was 8 years old. I always wanted a family with many children. If I could have done anything differently in my life, I would have obtained my bachelor’s degree in IT and traveled before starting a family.

The one thing that the pandemic taught me was, “Love the people you care about while they are here, do not hold grudges. You never know if you will ever see that person again.”

I wish that I would have made the decision to pull my 8-year-old out of public school and enroll her in an online school so that way she could have worked at her own pace. She was identified as gifted in pre-school and now attends Menlo Park Academy, a public community K-8 school for the gifted. When the pandemic hit and kids were forced to be home, I had to resign from my job to stay home with my daughter. It wasn’t long before I began to feel extremely alone.