[katiad]

I've wanted to foster/adopt for a long time now, and I'm finally getting started. Got a sheaf of paperwork to fill out, sent in my original interest application, and I start my Keeping Children Safe classes tonight. I live in Montana, and I guess they had such a high number of people interested in the classes this time they had to create a separate class running alongside the original ones...

I'm hoping to foster (and eventually, with any luck adopt) children ages 0-2, but I may change my age range there depending on what I learn in the classes, especially regarding daycare. I'm a single woman, age 27, and without the state chipping in for daycare, I don't think I could afford it at this point. But I guess I'll learn more in my classes!

I've never been a parent before, and though I babysat in high school and such, I don't have a lot of childcare experience. It'll be a real learning curve, I suppose!

I live in a small place, a two-bedroom condo. I have way too much stuff packed in it, and childproofing will be a nightmare, but I'm working on it. I don't expect to be licensed for several months yet.

Anyway, that's just a bit about me! Any advice for a newbie to both fostering and parenting?

[Shelly77]

Two pieces of advice:

(1) Be open to new things. While in your training, be open to the call to do something different than you originally thought - whether in terms of age range, foster vs adopt, or techniques for parenting.

(2) Be patient. The road you are embarking on has lots of curves and turns and almost none of them can be taken at the speed most of us would like. So be patient with the process.

Welcome to the forums here. I hope you find them beneficial as I have.

[parenting-over-40]

Congratulations on your decision to become a parent. Quite a big step. I too am single and I was fortunate enough to adopt a little girl already.

As the pp said, be open to new things. You may change your thoughts as you learn more in training (age range wise, etc).

Also, don't worry about not having a lot of parenting experience. You will get lots of advice from various sources as a foster parent. We get more training and advice than biological parents. It's amazing.

You will be great. Your future child/children will be lucky to have you as their Foster Mommy. Hopefully one (more if you want) will become your Forever Child.

[CaddoRose]

Congrats on your decision. Some advice I could give is to be prepared for it to take longer than you thought to get licensed. There's just a lot of stuff to do. Make copies of everything you turn so when a paper is lost, you already have a copy to give them. Read, read, read everything you can about parenting, foster care, and talk to people about their experiences. The more you know the easier it will be.

Start looking around for the baby/toddler stuff now. Toys. clothes, beds, books, etc can all be found at garage sales, thrift stores and in online places like Craislist and Freecycle. If you belong to a church or a social organization, let them know what you are doing and see if anyone there can help out with donations. You would surprised at how many people have stuff stored in their attic and would love to see it put to use again. Look for as much gender neutral clothing as possible. It will reduce the amount of clothing you have stored and make it easier when you get a placement.

[katiad]

Well, I just finished classes last night! They were... a bit boring, I must confess, and not as helpful as I'd hoped, but luckily, I've read some good books and the handouts they gave us were good!

I'm still thinking ages 0-2, but I may broaden that a bit up to 4... not sure yet. I suppose I should figure it out, since I need to buy furniture (crib, etc.)

The homestudy part is next - just finished up a long questionaire about my childhood relationships and my parents personalities! Heh.

My mother is finally starting to get on board with this, so that's good. At first, she wasn't terribly supportive of the idea, but as expected, she's coming around the closer to this it gets!

[parenting-over-40]

Congratulations on finishing your classes! A big step in the right direction. Please keep us posted on your progress.

[rm2000hg]

I am 27 and single too. I have the paperwork ready to send in and a room set up but I am afraid to actually send it. I have wanted to do foster care for as long as I can remember and I am afraid that I won't be approved and then my dreams will be shot.

[BigLex]

Originally Posted by rm2000hg

I am 27 and single too. I have the paperwork ready to send in and a room set up but I am afraid to actually send it. I have wanted to do foster care for as long as I can remember and I am afraid that I won't be approved and then my dreams will be shot.

I am new to the process and have been mulling this over for about 6 or 7 years. Even though it is scary, I don't think I could NOT do it at this point. You are doing a great thing and everyone in these forums is changing the world one person at a time!

[katiad]

I've got a date set for the first of my home study interviews! November 19th. Until then, I'm going to be busy decluttering and doing some basic childproofing - moving all cleaners and potentially toxic substances, etc. And I'll be buying a fire extinguisher. The odds of me using one in the event of a fire are slim to none (you can bet I'll just be hightailing it out the door!) but hey, if they require me to have one, so be it!