Wednesday’s Fostering Blog
After a challenging few days we are relieved that today the children have gone back to school. The longer that Alice has been with us, we realise that she really does need routine. After a week out of routine she really does not do so well, and her behaviour starts to deteriorate. Like lots of looked after children she needs to know what the plan is for the day. She wants to know what we are having at our next meal. She loves to count down days to things – whether its her birthday, or when she’s back at school, or any other event – she has a need to know when things are happening at all times!
Even though we know this about Alice, and we try as far as we can to give her a plan for each day, its not always possible and sometimes to be quite honest we are just not that organised. Whilst Alice has the need to have a plan, the rest of the family have a need to have lazy days with no plans at all! So we try and get a balance. This does not always go down too well with Alice.
Today is a good day. We have a plan! School is back on, which means we have a set time to get up, eat breakfast, get dressed and leave the house!! After two and a half weeks off school, it was pretty hard to get up this morning. I hit the snooze button on the alarm twice before I eventually got up. It felt good to get the kids off to school and get back home to get the house back to some level of normal, putting all the Christmas decorations back in the loft until next year. It’s amazing how much bigger the house feels when all the Christmas stuff gets put away.
It is not long before the phone rings. I could have guessed it would be school. I’m pretty sure I have developed a sixth sense for the school calling. There has been a problem with Alice’s catheter. One of the teaching assistants was on the phone and she was trying to explain what had happened. It was a bit difficult getting to the bottom of the situation because she wasn’t the one doing the catheter. After trying to ascertain what had happened, it appears the personal carer had half taken out the catheter and reinserted it. When she eventually took it out, she found blood on the end. This probably caused a small trauma where her surgery was. It was a little frustrating that the personal carer didn’t call herself. This will need a chat with the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator at school, and I will ask the community nurse to visit the staff to remind her about the one-use policy with a catheter! I thought today was going to be a quiet day!!!
A Less Ordinary Family Foster Care Blog
