In all my years of fostering one particularly poignant moment was when a tiny child asked me:"Will you come and find me in Heaven because obviously I won't know anyone there."The child was parentless, family-less, unfriended. Child had nobody on planet earth, until enter foster mum.That memory is not alone, I could offload hundreds of scintillatingly powerful flashbulb memories of...
Monday, April 26, 2021
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
THE INTERNET? IT'S FANTASTIC!
Children coming into care nowadays come into a home which contains an additional unseen foster parent. If the foster parents are partners there are three foster parents in the home. If the carer is single there are two parents in the home.The add-on parent figure is the internet. By 'parent figure' I mean influencer, a term that used to be 'role model' in the good old days.The internet...
Monday, April 12, 2021
THE FULL ENGLISH
Middle child not feeling too well come mid-morning, or maybe just a case of needing a metaphorical hug, so I got child settled on the sofa, under a duvet, and watching cartoons. Child had only nibbled at a bit of toast for breakfast, so I offered a full English, child bit my hand off;"Oooo pleeeeease!""Full English". Aka "A Fry Up". Not to be confused with the "Ulster Fry" which the Northern...
Saturday, April 10, 2021
COKE ISN'T ALWAYS COKE...
Kennard was eleven when he came to us. In fostering you normally don't know how long you'll have a child for, or what you're going to get in return for your efforts.You try to give something to the children and somehow they give something back, however long or short their stay.In our home we work on the basis the placement might be for a long time, but always we're working towards getting them...
Tuesday, April 06, 2021
HOW WOULD IT FEEL TO BE TAKEN INTO CARE?
What must it be like for a child on day one of being taken into care?If we foster parents can feel something of the shock-horror they have to deal with it'll be a big help to our fostering.Every child is so different, so utterly unique. Each experience is subtly different in so many ways it's not easy to think of many features of their experience that are consistent. But there are a few things...