Fosterman’s Fostering Blog.
So Easter has gone, all the chocolate has been eaten and its back to normality, or Covid normality, with James (name changed) being at home with me but, now, not having any school work to do.
He had a Zoom chat with Paige and they were talking about his Mum and the fact that she was in prison. He doesn’t really seem that fazed by Mums predicament but I wonder if, deep down, he is more upset than he is letting on. His Social Worker also called me to see how he is. I told her that he seemed fine and she was satisfied with that. She made an appointment to visit him and I popped that in my diary.
We went out for a nice walk along the Thames Walkway and had a wander around Greenwich Park, which was very busy but very enjoyable. We took some photos and then walked home, via Blackheath where we stopped off for a drink which we enjoyed sat on a bench watching the world go by.
We got home and James seemed a bit bored so we played a game on the PlayStation. He thrashed me on that so we looked on Netflix and found a film to watch. The film included a scene inside a prison and, to my surprise and delight; James made a comment about seeing if his Mum was in there.
We both laughed and that seemed to break the ice with regards to that subject. He then said that one advantage to Mum being in prison was that it delayed her starting rehabilitation therefore he would be with me for longer. That was a really nice and unexpected comment to hear and I told him that I’m glad he felt settled and happy.
The following day we decided to be rebels and we had a day at the coast. It only took an hour to get to Margate and, of course, most things were shut, but we found a chippy and sat on the beach eating our chips and dodging Seagulls.
It was nice to get some sea air in our lungs and we had a nice long walk along the ‘front’ for a couple of hours and then a quick walk around the very quiet town centre. It was a shame to see the number of empty shops and those that had temporarily closed.
For all its faults Margate was normally a busy town with lots going on. We got home and sat and watched football, for a change, and we had out tea on our laps whilst we watched. It was a good game and we were both engrossed in it.
At half time James had checked his phone and saw that he had several missed calls from a withheld number. I suggested that it might be a bit late for Mum to be calling but we made a note of it and I logged it in my diary.
There were no more calls and we watched the end of the game and James went off to bed. I had a tidy and loaded the dishwasher and went off to bed tired after all the lovely sea air.
Fosterman – A Simply Fostering Blogging Foster Carer.
