I have two girlfriends who decided not to have children, they're late forties now. They're happy with the decision.
The first one wanted to concentrate on her career. She worked funny hours and loved her work, and knew she'd have to give it up if she had children. Plus she went through several medium-term relationships in her twenties and thirties, and none of the relationships looked likely...
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
BEING AN AMATEUR JUDGE
One of the hardest things in parenting is sorting out disputes between your children. It follows that one of the hardest things in fostering is disputes between foster children.
Even harder is a squabble between your own child and your foster child.
I've only ever seen courtroom judges on TV and in films, where they usually come across as being stuffy and quirky. They don't seem to do any...
Friday, January 17, 2014
A TROUBLE SHARED
Sometimes you have to try to put yourself in the other person's shoes.
What's that joke by Ellen Degeneres? "If you don't like someone walk a mile in their shoes. Then at least you're a mile away. And you've got their shoes."
Hasn't she done well while we're on the subject? Seems like she's America's second biggest chat show host after Oprah Winfrey. Hasn't she done well too.
Sorry, I drifted off...
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
THE NEXT BIGGEST THING IN FOSTERING
There’s no doubt in my mind that the internet is going to
become the biggest bugbear in fostering any day now, maybe it already is.
Not long ago I would have bet that nothing could come along
to knock Contact off the Number One spot.
The thing about both these challenges is there’s lots of
positives to be had from each of them, but plenty of negatives too and we’re the ones who have to manage them.
When...
Thursday, January 09, 2014
FAMILIES AND FOSTERING
Our family were all very interested when
they found out we were becoming foster carers. We didn’t send out the news to
all four corners, nor tried to keep it secret.
Part of the process of becoming approved as a carer is
having Blue Sky go and meet some people who are close to you. In my case they
visited my mum and one of my best friends. After the meeting...