STORM MALDIVES AND FOSTERING

 I reckon that just about everybody spends more of their life thinking about their problems than anything else. Children in care certainly do.

Everyone goes from one problem to the next, sometimes juggling more than one problem simultaneously, sometimes several.

Fostering brings the foster parent about the same amount of frowns as smiles, but the smiles are merely a fleeting respite because we humans go straight on to the next frown and start trying to scheme a solution to the next problem.

Well, allow me to pass on a trick we've perfected in our house that ABSOLUTELY helps keep problems in perspective.

It's free, it's easy and it's fun. And best of all it works!

It all came about when I noticed that the weather men and women give names to storms. Storms used to be just "storms". Nowadays they're "Storm Fred" or "Storm Annie".

Our 2026 UK summer was remarkably hot and we had two or three heatwaves (defined as several days back to back with temperatures over 28 - or something-  centigrade). 

But no-one thought to give the sunshine a name!

So, I thought; "Why not give heatwaves a name? Somthing schmoozy like "Heatwave Raquel" or "Heatwave Piers".

I flagged up my idea to the family while we were watching a TV weather forecast and was met with a wall of indifference.

OK, so names are only for storms. 

But then I got to thinking this:

We have various storms in our fostering house at any given time.

But until now, we have never given them names.

Take the storm about whether it's ok for people to put post-it notes on their personal property in the fridge.

I might say to someone in the house:

"Has it been sorted yet, the thing about whether people can put their name on things they've bought with their own money but not things that have been bought using the family budget with a particular person in mind but which might appeal to someone else?"

This storm is currently labelled "Storm Post-it". 

They're all first-world minor problems such as;

"STORM SINK"

People who put dirty cups and spoons in the sink and walk away vs people who rinse them under a running tap and put them upside down on the draining board vs people who also dry them with a tea towel and put them away.

"STORM SHOES"

People who don't take off their shoes when they come in and risk treading mud (or worse) through the hallway vs people who kick off their shoes and make a higgledy pyramid of footwear by the door vs people who park their shoes neatly side by side before putting them in the shoe place.

"STORM SHOWER"

Whether people should put a towel down where they're going to walk around the bathroom while still wet when they get out of the shower so that the tiles stay dry for anyone coming in after the showered person to clean their teeth or floss or wash their face and might only have socks on which would get wet and have to be changed.

…the scheme works because it compartmentalises problems so they seem boxed-off and less overbearing. Plus it's vaguely funny.

OK it doesn't SOLVE the problems, that's a household eternal isn't it?

And the whole thing might get  ditched as yesterdays bright idea before the month is out.

Meantime I'm working on unveling an ultra-first world worry/problem namely;

"STORM MALDIVES"

Which is whether I'll ever get six weeks in a luxury beachside villa in the Maldives with spa treatments and five course evening dining plus complimentary cellar wines…etc etc.

Better than worrying about;

"STORM SMELLY KITCHEN SINK"