It’s not something I’ve mentioned on this blog before, but for the past four years I’ve not only been a big sister to my three younger brothers, but I’ve also been a big sister to ten foster brothers and sisters.
There’s me, top left proudly looking over my three younger brothers.
I’m incredibly proud of my parents for opening their home and their entire lives to fostering. It effects every part of their lives and unlike an ordinary job where you can usually switch off in the evenings, they’re are constantly working – even on their holidays! Granted, some placements are easier than others and they’ve certainly had children that have been more challenging than others… but each placement brings with them their own troubling background and that undoubtedly affects all sorts of behaviour.
For their own safety and protection, I can’t put photos of their past or current placements on here but they’ve been such a wonderful part of our lives that it seems I’d be leaving out a big part of our family life if I didn’t mention it.
The whole family! LPD and I, my parents and my three brothers. This photo was taken on a day that we said goodbye to two very special girls that spent about 16 months with my parents.
At the moment, my parents have two brothers (C and K, aged 7 and 9) with them. They’ve been with my parents since about June I think, and at first it looked like it would only be a temporary placement but as time goes on, it’s sadly looking less and less likely that they’ll be returning home. But who knows? Fingers crossed they’ll end up having their happy ending whatever happens. The boys are very sweet and loving and have really enjoyed the wealth of experiences they’ve had with my parents – they’ve been on their first holiday, they’ve learned how to swim, they’ve been to visit lots of parks, had a STONKING Christmas and even had a ride on a steam train! Very adorably, K the 7 year old came up to my Dad a couple of weeks ago and just said ‘Matt, you know what? I’m really happy right now.’
And that’s all you can really want for them, isn’t it? Happiness, security and love.