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Again, no problem. And don't sweat the home inspection to bad. Our house was built in 1908, so it's not exactly modern, lol. I'm trying to think of things that we had to change, but the only thing I can remember is we had to get put a smoke alarm in the basement. We already had them on the other two floors, and we added one to the basement. Then when the state starting requiring carbon monoxide detectors by your furnace we had to put in one of those. They made sure we had running water and hot water, but not too hot. Made sure our furnace worked. Checked the room sizes since it effects how many kids you can take in. They checked to see what beds we had available (ie. we own two cribs, one set of bunk beds, one toddler bed, and two twins beds, lol, so we can shuffle as needed). I think they made sure my stove and fridge worked too.
"I have another question for you that I forgot to ask earlier. What do your foster kids call you and your husband when they first come into your home? If they don't call you Mom and Dad, does it turn into that anyway?"
Well, we give them all the choice of what they want to call us. Some kids prefer mom and dad because it makes them feel less like they are different. You know when they are talking to their friends or when you are out in public, they like to be able to say mom and dad. And ALL of the little ones chose mom and dad. Some prefer your first names since they have parents and don't want you to replace them. We tell them we are Mr. and Mrs. __________, you can call us Joe and Susie or mom and dad. When we had our four boys I could always tell who needed me by what they called me LOL. The oldest called me mom, next in age called me Susie, next called me Susan, and the youngest called me mommy. You sort of learn to go with the flow, lol. We had one little girl that called us Aunt and Uncle since that's what her mother wanted her to call us. I even had a three year old call me a name that isn't repeatable on these boards, lol. But it was only once, and we explained that it isn't a nice word. He thought it was just something you called women. And yes, sometimes they switch what they call you. Our oldest daughter called us Joe and Susie for a long time, and then one day she just switched it to mom and dad. We've had it go the other way too. Kids that called us mom and dad would change to Joe and Susie as it got closer to the time they went back to their bio homes.
You didn't ask, but I bet you would have thought to soon, lol. The first night the kids are at your house. That's always the hardest with any age group. The little ones are scared and don't fully realize what's going on. The older ones are leery since many of them have been through the system enough times to know that not all foster parents are nice people. On the first night with a new child in your home just be ready. Sometimes for crying at night, and that horrible rip your heart of your chest scream of "I want my mommy!!!!". OMG, that's so hard!!! Nightmares, bed wetting, older kids getting out of bed all night since they can't sleep.
And so I don't forget. Bed wetting is a pretty common thing. We learned real quick to get those plastic sheets to put on the mattress underneath the regular sheet. If you put a mattress pad between the plastic sheet and the regular sheet it's not uncomfortable for the kids, and then your mattress is protected just in case.
Okay, I'm babbling now, lol. Let me know if you have more questions. As you can see, I'm very shy about answering them LOL.
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