The first week of fostering can be an exciting-yet-daunting experience at the same time. You want to do the best for the child (or children) whilst ensuring that your home is fully prepared for their arrival. The truth is there is no set rule for the first week of fostering. Instead, it’s a matter of ensuring that you, your family and the child feel as comfortable as possible.
That being said, there are a few tips that can help you with your first week of fostering, and we will list them below:
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1.It’s important to be flexible
The best foster care services Ingleburn has will tell you one thing: you can never be exactly sure the first week is going to go. Therefore, it’s important to be flexible and open-minded as the first week could be cruisy or it could be quite difficult. And, we’re not going to lie, it’s certainly not always cruisy. Fostering can be a difficult experience with kids who feel insecure or uncomfortable in their new environment.
Therefore, it’s important to ensure that you have the space and flexibility to allow for these kinds of new experiences. You may not have all the information set out in front of you but you will gain a better understanding with time. So, don’t be disheartened in your first week – it will likely get better as time goes on!
2.Clear your schedule
A foster child doesn’t want to arrive at your home to find that you are not present for them. These are often children who have lacked parental connection and could use some attention in their first week of staying at your home. Therefore, it’s important that you try to free up your schedule even if it’s just a little bit more than usual.
Naturally, this can be difficult with work, social and other family commitments. However, if you are able to free up your schedule just a little bit more to create some space to connect with the child then this will go a long way to creating a healthy connection later down the track.
3.Forget all expectations
As we previously mentioned, there are no set rules to your first week of fostering – it could really go any way. So, it’s important to let go of any expectations, especially if it is your first time fostering a child. They might have experienced some serious difficulties in their young lives and might be hard to connect with at first – this is okay!
The important thing is to forget the idea of it going perfectly. Yes, it may be an exciting time for you, but it can also end up quite stressful. So, be sure to let go of any expectations of how it should be and you will likely develop a strong connection after some time goes by.
4.Get to know them
Because this is the most important thing for them to trust in you, your family and your home. It’s important to find out what they like and dislike and what kinds of things will help you connect with them. Sure, this may not be easy at first, but take note as time goes by and you will soon be able to connect with them over the things that they enjoy in their young lives.
Just talk to them – you will soon get to know them and they will hopefully appreciate the effort you put in to connect with them and offer them a safe space!
