LIFE JUST BEFORE FOSTERING

The thing that got us into fostering was taking in some foreign students one year. We had a Russian girl, then a Japanese boy, an Italian girl, then two Spanish girls. Other half had been working at the local college when the cry went out for more homes for the students who came to study English. We were nervous at first. Who would we get? Would they be happy with our house? We figured...

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THE ROMANCE OF FOSTERING

Home from abroad. Nice holiday, it had a fantastic highlight! Always dented a bit by a day of travelling home; checking out, getting to airport, the crush to get through, the wait. The stressy getting onto the plane, never enough space for the hand luggage, everyone seems to be pushing the limit these days, the bumpy flight, the wait for luggage. Airport to home. Phew! The mail on the mat. The...

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HOLIDAY REST

Obviously, in fostering you come back from holiday for a rest. Here we are abroad, I've just come up from the pool via one of those little shops that sells everything except actual PG Tips, to make a family lunch and catch up on emails. Other half is having thirty minutes of eyes-in-the-back-of-his-head time then he'll round them up for melon and salad bits on our balcony. There's a funny feeling...

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HE'D BEEN SHOT...

Right, here we are on holiday.  You fly off partly to get away from the day-to-day of fostering, but I'm blogging because it's amazing how hard it is to actually get away from it. This happened yesterday; Up at 4.00am, to the airport. Arrived and did what you do; unpack, check fridge for milk, make sure of wi-fi. Down to the pool. Youngest foster child made a friend, Sam, and they're still...

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NON-ALCOHOLIC BEER

We had a family gathering at our house at the weekend. We did the refreshments run in the morning; big salad, ham, bread rolls. Sparkling water, cordials, a few lagers, red and white -we use the boxes when it's a 'do' - and four bottles of non-alcoholic beer. There are always some awkward things about family gatherings. Four bottles of non-alcoholic beer is somehow awkward. Looking after foster children...

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FOSTERING - BETTER THAN CAFFIENE

It's 5.15am. I woke up at 1.45am this morning and couldn't go back. A new record. I've been hovering around the 5.00am mark for a year or two, the previous record for wide awake (as in no point trying to go back) stood at 3.15am. Sometimes I do go back and it's great to look at the clock and see 7.15am. I'm not that bothered; it's surely a one-off. I was in bed at 9.30pm, cream crackered, fell...

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