Probably the question children are most routinely asked with a smile is this;
"What do you want for Christmas?"
A bike? An xBox? An iPhone?
Deep joy.
But every summer they are given 6 weeks off school; they are at home for a month and a half.
Blimey, weekends can be challenging enough for foster parents; 48 hours of back-to-back fostering, sometimes with youngsters who perhaps lack...
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Thursday, July 23, 2015
WHY FOSTER?
I cleaned the fridge today.
It was a big deal.
I was chuffed when I got to the salad trays because it turned out that was where the slight smell was coming from. It looked as though someone had put a milk bottle on its side on one of the racks without the top on properly and milk had dripped all the way down to the trays and two weeks later started turning cheesie.
I'm bent over the sink...
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
HOLIDAY BLUES, DOGS AND OFSTED
HOLIDAY BLUES
The arrival of any school holiday is a big gear change in fostering.
During term time Monday mornings are a welcome breather and a chance to catch up the jobs in a quiet house.
When the schools break up you're chasing your tail for a few weeks.
On the last day of term fostered children can be disarmingly like children the world over, they get out of bed with a spring in their step,...
Saturday, July 18, 2015
THE SOCIAL LIFE OF THE FOSTER PARENT
It can be amazing how some big things in your life go un-noticed until someone else points them out.
So there I am waiting for a taxi last Friday night and my eldest said "God, what did you do for a social life before fostering?" and a penny dropped.
On top of all the things that fostering has given us as a family, it's added a whole new dimension to my world of friends.
I've kept a small group...
Thursday, July 16, 2015
PRAISE SANDWICHES AND COFFEE
I had my Annual Review a couple of days ago.
In fostering you meet an independent expert once a year for an hour or so to chat about how everything's going. The person doing your review have been given a profile of you by, in our case, Blue Sky's team. They write up how your last 12 months has gone from their point of view, when I say 'they'; it's mainly your social worker.
Your social worker comes...
Saturday, July 11, 2015
HOW YOUR PARENTS HELP WITH FOSTERING
I'm going to tell you a true story about a fostering thing that popped into my mind after I'd been catching up on the news on my laptop. The thing about it is; you'll choke on your cup of tea. But it's an absolutely true story.
So in the news Prince Philip gets impatient and tells an official photographer to hurry up and take the group photograph, only he uses the f word as an adjective for...
Tuesday, July 07, 2015
THE NOTES WE GET IN ADVANCE ABOUT A CHILD
Sometimes it's interesting to go and read the files you were given about a child back when you were asked to consider taking them as a placement.
When the notes come through they are a hectic read.
You haven't much time to think about the nuances of whatever meat there is in the information, never mind the titbits. Don't get me wrong; social services and Blue Sky go to the ends of what they know...
Thursday, July 02, 2015
WHAT ARE WE?
At the end of year concert the Head always likes stand up and say welcome to "Parents and Carers". The school always goes for 'Parents and Carers".
It makes me uncomfortable, it's a thing that just reminds our placements they are different, and they don't need it.
One of the advantages you have as a foster parent is that certain organisations treat you extra-well. The doctors surgery, I find, bends...