Our first placement has come and gone. Our next placement will arrive today. We’ve had about a week in between, which has been a really nice break for us.
In my last post, I had a list of 5 things I Wish We had Done Before having Foster Kids. This week, we are focusing on the positives. Here’s what we did well.
1) Food choices
The week before we got our first placement, we went to the store and bought a bunch of snacks: granola bars, apple sauce, string cheese, goldfish, dried mango. The granola bars were a big hit. I think we bought a box of 18, and they were gone by the end of our respite placement.
Different snacks have been popular with different kids. The child we had for our first full placement really liked the yogurt covered raisins and goldfish, but she didn’t eat a lot of the granola bars.
2) The kids’ room
During our final home study, we were told that the kids’ room was nice and welcoming. Honestly, it wasn’t as homey as I wanted it to be, but this made me realize that kids don’t need a lot to make it feel inviting. It doesn’t have be beautifully decorated. We did have gender-neutral colorful bedding, several stuffed animals for the kids to choose from, and a bunch of books (from our childhoods) and a few Spanish/English books that we’ve picked up.
During our first placement, we worked to make it even more homey. First of all, I learned the importance of duvet covers. I have washed the comforters in the kids’ rooms multiple times in the last two months. So, we found some fun duvet covers on Amazon to make laundry easier.
I also purchased a US map and a world map. I have found it helpful to show our kiddos where they are, where their sponsor is, and where their home country is.
3) Lighting in our house
We bought a night light for basically every room of the house except our bedroom and the guest room. We started out with two, and we ended up buying another set because we liked them so much. They are automatic, so they turn on at night. This has been helpful for us when we come home later at night or when we get up in the middle of the night.
4) Asking for help
We shared an Amazon wishlist with some friends and family and within 24 hours, we had packages arriving on our porch.
We also asked for a few things from our church community, and they really came together for us. The Sunday after we reached out for support one lady had four backpacks full of school supplies for us, and another family had four carry-on suitcases for us. Later, I got four trash bags full of kids’ clothes. (I don’t know why four was a thing, but it was). Another friend went with me to pick up some essentials before our first respite kiddos arrived. Another friend had us over for lunch our first Sunday with kids. The first two and a half weeks of our first placement, we had meals brought to us. This has been especially helpful because Joshua’s work schedule has been really hectic with him working several evenings and weekends.
5) Learning what we could
I wouldn’t say that we did the most research, but we have been trying to learn what we can through this process. I have watch pretty much every video this youtuber has produced. She’s my favorite, but I’ve also enjoyed videos by this youtuber and this one.
And we know that we’re still learning and making mistakes and doing some things well and making adjustments and learning some more. Thanks for being on this journey with us.
The maps were a brilliant idea!