WARNING; RUSTY SPANISH AHEAD

How about this comment from El Chorizo Ingles which went up a couple of days back in response to a blog I posted... four years ago. El Chorizo InglesSaturday, December 21, 2019 We've been discussing fostering for a while now and have decided to start putting things into place. It means moving, improving the other halfs English, getting everyone on board(6 kids between 5 and 22 and a Granny and...

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LOVING HAVING YOUR KIDS HOME

School holidays are a big thing in fostering. One of many joys is that for a week or several you don't have to battle to get children up and off to school. Getting your child, any child - not just a foster child - to school is always an issue. One afternoon just before one Christmas I was sat on a gym bench watching a primary school carol concert. The slightly out-of-date teacher who'd organised...

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FOSTERING AND RESPECT

Fostering opens doors that aren't easy to kick down for normal parents. I'm obviously not suggesting door kicking, it's just a term.  Take for example doctor's appointments. I called our surgery regarding my own needs and was told they had no doctor availability for nearly four weeks. A few days later I called for an appointment for my foster child and got in THE SAME DAY. And that's fair...

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FOSTERING AND FRIENDS

I've got me yet another new best friend, her name is Veronica. In fostering you find yourself meeting so many new people with whom you have lots in common - namely fostering. It's not unique to fostering, most people are drawn to like-minded people. But fostering brings out a very special camaraderie, and it's a good camaraderie too. It's a 'we're all in this together' thing, spiced up with a dash...

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MEETING THE PARENTS

In fostering you sometimes meet the parents of your foster child. Before I came into fostering I had no idea I would, but you do. Not always but often. There's a law that says that children in care must have contact with their 'significant others', usually once a week on average. And it often falls to us - the Carers - to transport the children to these contacts. It might be at a Contact Centre...

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COULD THE ROYALS FOSTER?

Fostering; it's just real life. People who are thinking of becoming Foster Carers often seem worried that they have a cluttered past and lack the magic ingredient, whatever that is. To tackle the first worry; everyone has a cluttered past. I always say 'Look at the Royal Family'. Whatever you think of them as an institution or as individuals, they are probably the most cluttered family any of us...

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ORDER! OOORDEEER!!!

I don't know about you, I'm having a bit of a tough time explaining the state of the nation to our foster children. If you're reading this in a country other than the UK, you probably have had a whiff of our wranglings here, basically we've tied ourselves in a heck of a knot about whether to leave the European Union, and now there's a fierce general election going to happen during the run-up to the...

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LITTLE THINGS THAT MAKE FOSTERING

Natasha was seven when she arrived at our house, at about 4.30 in the afternoon as I remember.  The social worker who had supervised bringing her into care parked up outside our house, got out and opened the rear door of the car. I’m afraid when a new child is due I'm a bit of a curtain twitcher, eager to get my first glimpse of the child. It's probably nothing more noble than raw curiosity,...

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A LITTLE RESPITE FOSTERING

It's a Monday morning and I'm up early because we had an emergency/respite child arrive out of the blue late Friday night and she's due to go home first thing this morning. To be precise the plan is for her to be taken straight to school to give her foster family an extra 8 hours to right their ship before the child arrives at their excellent and wonderful foster home. It's a fallacy that a foster...

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RUMINATIONS

Saw my first commercial for Christmas today (September 30th) We're supposed to moan about over-early Christmas advertising, but deep down I love Christmas so it put a spring in my step. Christmas, if you foster, is a mixed bag. You probably won't be surprised to learn that more children are taken into care over Christmas than at any other time of the year. The experts say that the coming together...

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NICE FEEDBACK

I hope you'll forgive the slightly whacky last couple of posts, it's just that from the moment our new puppy ('Friday') arrived I was totally struck by how similar her situation is to that of a newly-arrived foster child at the home of a newly approved Foster Carer. I had to get inside Friday's head to anticipate her needs in a new home and it's helped my fostering. It's not a pudding that wants...

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FRIDAY DOG

A while ago I wrote a post called; "Can I get a dog?" Eldest foster child had not let up for a couple of months. Long story short; I went and said "Yes." She arrived a couple of Fridays ago, and she's called... Friday. OMG is she gorgeous. Not just on the outside; Friday's beautiful on the...

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HELLO. MY NAME IS FRIDAY.

HELLO!  I'M FRIDAY.I'M A TRAINEE FOSTERING PUPPY. Hello!!! My name, apparently, is 'Friday".  I'm 14 weeks old so mind yourself because I've learned a few things in my short time such as how to pull a face that makes everyone go "Awww!". Up until not long ago I was with my mum...

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