Foster parents get asked; How do I get into fostering?What sort of person volunteers?I can only speak on behalf of me and the many fostering folk I've met in my time.We meet at training sessions, support meetings, supervision events, coffee mornings, social things, anniversary do's. Christmas dinners.Sometimes, when chatting you find yourself asking other carers; "What did you do before fostering?"It's...
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
FOSTERING AND FOOD
Food, as I often say, is SO important to most foster children.This truth was one of the first things I learned when I began fostering.The importance of food begins with finding out what's the favourite food of a new child who's on their way to you. If you are able, you cook that meal on day one.Blue Sky always try to get this information to the carer because they too know what a bridge-builder...
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
HARD TO BELIEVE. BUT 100% TRUE.
In fostering you can sometimes forget that you're in fostering.And that's a splendid state of affairs.Because it means one thing and one thing only;It means that your ship is steady despite there being an unusual load on one side of the boat.But if you can absorb the special stuff that fostering brings to your home, and notice that you're going along on the straight and narrow, you're doing...
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
I'M WITH THE AGENCY...
In the UK there are basically two ways to get into fostering.I have a quirky little quirk that'll amuse you in a moment…One way to get involved is to contact your local authority social services department directly. There's such a crying need for more foster parents that it's likely you'll see their advertsements for people to come forward. If you follow that route the local authority...
Monday, October 07, 2024
FOSTER KIDS WARM TO OTHER FOSTER KIDS
We've been fostering with Blue Sky for fifteen years now.So something must be going right…We'd originally started fostering twenty years before, but then our own children came along and we put fostering on hold.Thinking back to then, what we thought was that we needed to put all our time and effort into out own kids.On balance, we got that wrong.A family can benefit from welcoming a foster child....
Thursday, October 03, 2024
HOW TO CONNECT
One of the things you often have to do with a foster child is to help them get used to other people.Shyness is one thing - it's normal. But foster children sometimes have something different; almost a phobia about people.Often they've been deprived of normal company.Katie came to us aged 8. Katie was nigh on incapable of interacting with anybody. She was bright and articulate, mainly because...