A PAIN IN THE NECK

 Once you begin fostering you should try to be an unofficial recruitment officer. We need new foster carers.

The Fostering Network says there are 52,000 children with foster families.

And that every year thousands more foster families are needed.

Blue Sky have a programme of payments for any of their carers who recruits a new carer. If you're interested, and you're with Blue Sky, ask your social worker. I understand the payment is worthwhile; a useful top-up on the allowances we get.

Last week I had to go to a chiropractor. Trapped nerve in my neck.

Cue mild family jokes about me/pain in the neck.

I sat down in the waiting area, there were four other people.

One was a young man with a toddler, aged about two. The toddler clocked me so I smiled back. Always gets a reaction from an infant, a nice kind smile. The little one kept glancing my way, and each time I smiled back. Then, after about three such exchanges I gave him a little wave. The young man - who I guessed was the toddler's dad, but you mustn't jump to conclusions - was oblivious, but after a while became aware that me and his toddler were engaged.

The young man had a bleary look about him, the look that parents have when their first-born still doesn't quite sleep through. I said to him, out the side of my mouth;

"Getting any sleep?"

He smiled at my sympathy and said;

"He's getting there."

I asked;

"Early waker?"

He replied; "Anything from four 'til half five."

And we were off. If you can't get a good chat with someone about their children, forget it. Parenting is the world's number one ice-breaker.

So I learned all about his situation; how Arther was their first, how Arther was named after one of his grandfathers, how they wanted one more. Talking about his son he was animated and alive. He told me he worked in haulage, refridgerated lorries. Talking about his work, his eyes died.

He didn't ask, but I squeezed into the conversation the fact that I fostered.

He lit up again and started asking about fostering. He wanted to know what it was like, how it worked, what sort of people fostered. 

I figured this was a young man who was interested in doing something more worthwhile than organising the driver rota for a firm that delivered frozen goods.

Memo to me: "Ask Blue Sky to give me some of their cards so I can say to people something like 'give this lot a quick call, they'll fill you in'."

I was called in to have my neck crunched and when I came out refridgerated lorry man was gone.

Pity, but who knows, he might make it into fostering on his own.

Memo to self; "Be more front-footed about selling fostering."

Fostering is, for me, the best thing in the world, why be shy about it?