FOSTERING AND SUPERMARKETS

Every time I take a shower and wash my hair, I shampoo first then reach for the conditioner. Every time I reach for the conditioner I start singing the same song. I'm not going to say what the song is, it's embarrassing. But when I say that I start singing the song every time I reach for the conditioner, I really do mean every time. It starts when I say to myself "Now, where's the bottle of conditioner"....

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WHY SOME CHILDREN MISBEHAVE

The two of us have been sitting up in bed talking. Talking about all sorts, mostly nothingy things such as whether the lawn mower has had it, what with Homebase doing 15% off this week. Normal married talk, but in our case we spend more time talking about the foster children than anything else. I say "children" rather than "child" because although we have only one at this precise moment in time,...

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HOW DO YOU MAKE A START IN FOSTERING?

I heard a joke a long time ago and it sticks in my mind. A tourist was lost in country lanes. He pulled up next to a farmer who was leaning on a gate. "Excuse me sir" said the tourist, "What's the best way to get to the village?" The farmer thinks carefully and replies "Well...the best way to get to the village...is not to start from here" New foster carers are also unsure if they're starting out...

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PLAY

I'm not one for book learning. I like reading certain things for pleasure, but to be honest I got bored at school and anything academic still leaves me cold. The thing that made school bearable for me was that my friends were there, and I loved the sound of the bell that meant Playtime. As they grew up I took my children to school. They never really wanted to go. My eldest found school very trying,...

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GOING HOME

I saw a film once where one of the characters said something that has stayed with me all my life. I must have been young, it really hit me. I can't remember anything else about the film, but I can still picture the character who was holding someone in their arms and trying to comfort them. The person being cuddled was very upset about something. The line was; "Remember honey, none of us can ever...

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WHAT DO WE THINK ABOUT THE "REAL" PARENTS?

I'm still finding one of the big things in fostering a bit of a headache, it's this: I'm never sure exactly what to say about foster children's real parents, when they bring the subject up. The children and young people who turn up on your doorstep, usually standing just behind the social workers who bring them to your house, are all very very different but at the same time have one big thing in...

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