[CaddoRose]

I've found that most of the rules that we find strange are intended for older kids and not the really young ones. The door alarm is strange to me, but we aren't required to have that here in Texas. With little ones, I really don't worry about the fully clothed issue, closing the bathroom door,(because the toddler will open it and I don't want to be on the other side of a closed door from her), or the older one(bio) walking into the bathroom when I'm coming out of the shower.

A lot of this has to do with the issues those children may have experienced that brought them into care in the first place. You just have to strike a balance between the need to be cognizant about their needs and maintaining some family stability. Every child is different and will need different levels of supervision. So far with us, we have not had to do any major rearrangements of our life with our foster children(we've had 5 since being licensed in July 08). The oldest we have had was 4 yrs old. When we do weekend respite, it is usually for older kids and then we have to change some of our usual behaviors in respect to having a kid who is 10-12 yrs old. DH will make sure he doesn't put on PJ's until the child is in bed asleep. He will put on lounge pants and always be fully clothed. I do the same thing. Some of the changes are for our protection as much as theirs.