[healingmachine]

Hi there--just had a random question that I've been wondering about. I'm posting to this board because it seems to have the most traffic. ;o)

I am not (yet) a foster mom, but plan to be within the next year. I enjoy reading these boards to get a more personal view of what I might expect as I welcome children into my home. I do, however, have a question that I haven't really seen any answer to on the boards.

When a foster child begins to talk, what do you have them call you? I guess I'm wondering because I know from child development classes and such that usually a child's first words are along the lines of 'mama' and 'dada'. Do foster parents encourage the children to call them these names or use their real names?

I know this isn't that important in the bigger picture, but I was just wondering what people do in their homes.

Also, while I'm here, is there another board or page devoted to keeping up with different acronyms that people use? I know the basics "fs=foster son" and "sahm=stay at home mom" but just wanted to know if there was another resource that spells them all out.

Thanks a lot for any responses!!!

healingmachine
(mama to two cats so far!)

[Mishagreen]

Our foster son, who is 15 months old now, calls us Mama and Dada. His caseworker said it was fine to refer to ourselves that way and that even most of the older kids call their foster parents Mom and Dad.
I'm curious myself about what every one else will tell you. He's our first placement, so I'm not exactly the voice of experience here.
I'm not familiar with the acronyms either.

[L-A-J-C-R-C]

All my kids that were that young called us mommy and daddy. Actually, we have only had one set of kids that called us by our first names. They were only going to be with us short term and they reunified. All of the other kids we've had have called us mom and dad.

I know there's a thread somewhere to tell you what all the acronyms mean but here are the ones I know:

dh/dw/dp = dear husband/dear wife/dear partner
dd/ds = dear daughter/dear son
fp = foster parent
bmom/bdad = birth mom/birth dad
sw = social worker
TPR = termination of parental rights
pamom = potential adoptive mom

I'm sure there are many more that I'm not thinking of right now. I hope these help you some.

Michelle

[healingmachine]

Thank you so much for those acronyms...I'm getting the hang of it, but sometimes I still get confused. ;o)

[healingmachine]

Hmm, thanks for responding, Mishagreen. I suppose it's just something I'll have to ask the sw. (Ha--I used an acronym!!)

Thanks again!

[tlc4kidz]

Ours called us "mama" and "dada". It did cause a little friction with the bps when we were at a meeting and our fd called me that, but the cw handled it very nicely and just brushed it off as "she is her mama...her fostermama". That seemed to satisfy them, however I know they were still hurt, and it was uncomfortable. I'm not sure what else you could call yourself since developmentally that's where talking begins.

[healingmachine]

Right, tlc4kidz, that's what I thought as well, developmentally speaking I mean. Thanks for replying!