P.S. these amazing log beds were made for us by someone Jeff knows in Montana. Our bed is made by the same guy. Aren't they beautiful???
I think it's time we clean the "activity closet"- judging by the pic I just took of it!
We get asked quite often "what do you have to do to do foster parenting?" LOL. It's a legitimate question, but it would take days/weeks to explain all that we have to do. This post is a list of the physical preparations that we had to get ready for an unknown # of kids. (We're licensed for 6 kids, ages 0-12 at this time) 1. BEDS- we currently have 2 cribs, 2 toddler beds (they are the convertible kind-which are perfect for the needed flexibility around here) a set of twin bunk beds, 2 separate twin beds, and a queen bed all set up in our home (not including ours!). We also have a queen/twin bunk if we needed to set it up at some point. We are blessed enough to have a large home, and you never know when you'll get a call for a sibling group of 4, or 2 sets of sibling groups, etc. We've had calls at 1, 2, and 3 am asking if we'd take in children, and that they would be here in an 1 1/2 hrs! (we live about 1.5 hrs away from the city, so atleast we can usually count on having at least that much time to prep!)..... P.S. these amazing log beds were made for us by someone Jeff knows in Montana. Our bed is made by the same guy. Aren't they beautiful??? 2. Clothes. Now, we didn't have many clothes when we started foster care because we had no idea what ages, sex, how many, etc. (plus, we didn't have a lot of money). We still don't have a lot of money, but we've been blessed by many many donations, and we have truly discovered a magical place called Goodwill.....we live in small community, and in the beginning, there were times when we had new kids come in the middle of the night. By the time I went to work and told my co-workers, we had bags of clothes coming in for the kids by the end of my shift, from people who didn't even know us! We now have ALOT of clothing, for all ages and sizes, both boy and girl. They are neatly organized into tubs with labels on them (a project I just recently finished =) We have had kids come with a lot of "stuff", and we have had kids come with literally the clothes on their backs. One sibling group of 3, ages 3, 4, and 7 came in the dead of winter, with shorts, torn up t-shirts,, no underwear, no socks, and cowboy boots. We had nothing for them!!! (this is one of the times when our community blessed us immediately, and we had tons of clothes for them within hours)......When we do need items, we go to goodwill. There are a lot of nearly new, new, and/or nice clothes to be found there, for a fraction of the cost new clothes would cost...(this is the only place Jeff and I get clothes too- which doesn't happen very often, lol). 3. Activities: Again, this is something that has grown as time has passed while fostering. We actually have an entire closet, "the activity closet", filled to the brim with board games, coloring books, painting stuff, flash cards, craft supplies, etc. Jeff and I are big into board games anyways, and it has been a great way to help new kids feel more comfortable, and has worked wonders on some of the kids who come in here and just want to watch tv or play video games (yes, we limit 'screen time' in this house). They get to choose what they want to play and have a lot of options to choose from. Most of what is in this closet has either been donated, or from goodwill (almost all of our games come from goodwill, for approx. $2!) I think it's time we clean the "activity closet"- judging by the pic I just took of it! 4. Books: Not too much to say on this one, except we love books in this house! We encourage reading/looking at pictures, and we try to read to them as much as possible. We have the older kids read to the younger kids too. New books can be expensive, so once again, almost all of our books come from goodwill, .49 each! (Except a few "fancy" books that come from either Gigi or Grandma Linda- who both shop at school book fairs).... Many of the kids clearly haven't had much attention where they came from, and being read to is such a good way to do that!! 5. Other helpful things: We also now have 2 high chairs, that have gotten good use. We have 4 five point carseats, and 4 booster seats for the car. We have an assortment of strollers (our best find being a double stroller that Jeff found on the side of the round with a "free" sign on it before we became parents. He came home with it saying "we might need this someday" and I rolled my eyes).....We have gotten so much use out of it! We now also have many many kids dishes- various sippy cups for all ages, water bottles, etc. BICYCLES- we have had bikes, trikes, scooters, and wagons donated to us (and a few bought at goodwill by us) and since we encourage a lot outside play- these have been wonderful. and of course toys- lots of them, for all ages, dolls, stuffed animals, toy trains, cars, etc. We also have to have all the cupboards at kid level with hard to open latches, meds locked away, and lots of kid gates for when we get toddlers! Now, if I just muster up the energy to keep all these things organized neatly......
13 Comments
Shanna
2/26/2014 09:10:01 pm
Thank you for this great post. We have Ben in foster care for a little over a year and have had 14 kiddos come through in that time. My question to you is how many sets of clothes for each gender and age group do you keep on hand? I have many many tubs of clothes. My husband says I should just keep two sets or so to get us going w the placements. I see us "saving" them all for the "you never know" when we will need them (; it can get pretty crazy in the garage with all the tubs. Just would love to her the view of a fellow foster care momma. Thanks so much
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Molly
2/27/2014 01:02:21 pm
Hi Shanna!!! Thanks for reading! And thanks for what you do as a foster parent!!! So we happen to have lots of extra space where we live, so we keep a lot of tubs. We like to have several sets of clothes for all ages (up to about 12 ish) to get us going on placements, but we also have tried to have have multiple tubs of extra clothes because we have learned that often times these kids are coming to us with almost nothing. (This way, when they leave, we are able to send them with clothes). We also live about 2 hrs from the nearest city, so it isn't as easy or financially smart for us to drive into town to get items for kids......Again, thanks for reading, and thanks for making a difference!!!
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Brignac
1/20/2017 08:30:11 am
Keep extra toothbrushes, soaps, hairbrushes on hand. Also, try to keep the rooms gender neutral. Its easy to add color once a child is in the room. Have a soft blanket and stuffed animal available for younger kids to keep.
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Paula
9/17/2016 04:01:04 am
We are in the process of becoming Foster parents and I loved all your ideas. I will definitely use these. Thanks for sharing.
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Heidi
1/4/2017 07:35:20 pm
Thanks for shareing! We have just this past year become foster parents ourselves but we also have 2 biological children so I found out that we already have and do a lot of this ourselves, which makes me happy, we also are blessed enough to have a large house (approved for 6) and some land that we hope to fill up one day! Glad to see were on the right track. Any more tips?
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Brignac
1/20/2017 08:27:44 am
Go out and buy a calendar. Write everything in it. When you call a social worker, drs. appts., bad days (why you think it happened. ex. emotional visit) Good days School calendar and other activities. When you do respite for someone and when the social worker visits. You may not need some of this information you write down, but its great to have it when you do.
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Carol
1/17/2017 04:03:35 am
Thanks! We have been foster parents for 8 years and have had 36 kids in our home. Once we had a sibling group of 6! We have 11 of our own children, so we were somewhat prepared. But not for the emotional issues. Thanks for foster parents everywhere!
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Lori
2/25/2017 08:01:31 pm
Hi Carol,
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Shannon Otter
10/8/2017 05:57:11 pm
Thank you for sharing so helpful and I'm so excited thanks again
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Ryan V
8/20/2019 01:17:54 am
Hi,
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Molly Knight
8/25/2019 01:01:43 pm
Hi! I love to hear that people are looking into fostering!!! We have had so many kids through our home since I wrote this blog! We have moved several times as well, and aren’t as “rural” now so we don’t have to keep as much stuff on hand anymore! I wish you the best as you start this foster care journey!
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