CHATTING WITH YOUR FOSTER CHILD

 Sometimes I have the most revealing conversations if there's a foster child or two involved.Here's an amazing one from last week;Our Blue Sky social worker had dropped in for a visit. One of our own children happened to be at our house returning the lawn mower, plus there were two foster children home from school, one of whom was Alicia, who's transitioning.Our social worker is brilliant...

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ABBA V TAYLOR SWIFT

 Nathan is a good lad, been here nearly two years.He's grown, but because 'growing up' is gradual and difficult to measure when you see the child every day, it's good to have a Blue Sky social worker visit you and go over progress.My social worker showed up earlier this week and honsetly, I couldn't do it without her. Mind, she says I could, but then she would would she?She arrived at 3.30pm,...

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IF A CHILD BECOMES "PERMANENT"

 We're going through a period with our middle foster child which some are describing as "seismic".Now, I try to keep fostering on an even keel. Keep a lid on.The easiest way to work up a foster child is to make a big deal of anything.For example, there's a poet, Lemn Sissay, who was a foster child and remembers being removed from a foster home by the foster parents' because he'd been caught taking...

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FOSTERING AND TRANSITIONING

 Our transitioning foster child is discreetly bringing transitioning friends home to our house at weekends.By 'discreetly',  I mean he makes no big deal of it.He says "Is it okay if Amber and Daniel come over to chill?"He gives no background. I ask no questions.I kinda know what this is a bit about, thanks to an experience of about 30 years ago.I had an old ex-colleague, a bloke, who contacted...

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