What is it like?

I continue to gather my thoughts and build my philosophy on fostering.  What is it like?  It's like nothing else I've ever experienced, but it has familiar components.  It's sort of like:

-Being a parent
-Being a nanny
-Babysitting a niece or nephew
-Hosting an exchange student
-Participating in the witness protection program
-Being a student
-Being a substitute teacher without a lesson plan
-A desk job involving lots of paperwork and phone calls, but you can only work during nap time
-Being a bus/carpool driver:  Noodle to visit, Nugget home, Nugget to preschool, time for a 5 minute errand, Noodle pickup to home, oh my!