[catkendig]

Watch out - triplets and twins in the house! Well, sort of. What a busy household we suddenly have. These are our first placements and since their addition to our family, we now have three kids the same age (only 2 months apart) and two others also the same age running around the house. All under 5 years old. Oh my....

I'll have many questions later for all you experienced foster parents but for now, just wanted to share the craziness with you all. (Anyone have a vat of coffee they can send me???)


Little Drummer Boy
The Headbanger
The Police Man
The Entertainer
The PrinCESS

[saj]

Oh My,

I see a reality TV show in the making. Many good vibes going your way. Keep us posted. I think you may need more than coffee by the end of the day.

Sincerely,

Saj

[meshsgrl]

Welcome to my world!!
I don't have any bio kids, but have 2 seperate siblings groups... 1-1 yr old boy, 2-3 yr olds girls (6 mo apart) and 2-4 yr olds boys(2 mo apart)! Its is a fun craziness!!

My advice is SCHEDULE and STRUCTURE!!!
I have a laundry sorter "thingy" and the kids sort their laundry as it gets taken off... saves me sorting later!

I have a row of hooks by the door, with each persons name on it... a shoe box underneath that!

All clothes that are bought, arevmade to be able put on and taken off by themselves!

Plates and cups are color coded (from the dollar store) everyone uses the same cup and plate each meal... teaches them colors and allows them to help get ready for meals without fights.

The kids pick up toys twice a day, right before naps and right before bed. They like doing it, they make a game out it! They also all lay down for naps at the same time!! This is my lifesaver!!!


Oh and one vat of coffee will NEVER be enough!! You will need at least 2 or 3 a day for that first month!!!


Remember lay down the rules right from the start... if you let anything go now, they will keep pushing things one step farther until you DO stop behaviors! They are happier when there are firm rules in place and they are enforced!

Schedule schedule schedule!! Kids are happier and you can always see the end in sight!!
My kids are morning people so we are up and running at 7 am!! I am NOT a morning person!! LOL But then we have a full morning to do lots of fun stuff!! It helps me to know that we eat at a certain time, we sleep at a certain time and my kids need that stability... yes today we get food at 11:30 just like yesterday!!


Ok I just wrote a book!!! Good luck!! I love and hate those first couple days with new placements!!! I love the excitement... hate the stress!!!

[o2b30again]

I am right there beside you. I tell my neighbors if they see me running naked through the streets to snag me and bring me home! They said they wouldn't do it because it is the only time I would have any peace

The craziness is so worth it. We just say that our home is Semi Organized chaos and roll with the punches. I have just recently learned that I like coffee! yippee for caffeine.

Mom to 8, Six under 7!

I would love to chat with you a bit more. Please PM me. We can share stories. These are our first placements as well and we got two sibling sets only 6 months apart. So I am with you in the crazy department but how exhilarating!

[blubutterflies03]

and they are 1, 1.5, 2, and almost 3 yr older. What gets me is when everybody needs to be changed at the same time. You do have to be super organized or the chaos will get the best of you! good luck!

[Kat-L]

I had 4 ages 4 and younger (4, 2, 20 months & 1 year). Like the other poster said, having a schedule helps a LOT. Also, I'm a huge fan of early bedtime!
It was the only time I could get any work done around the house. All the kids were in bed at 7 and asleep at 7:30.

[Withay]

My favorite time was when I had 4, all under the age of 6 months!!! Yep, 1 - 6 mo, 1 - 3 mo and 2 newborns. Did I forget to mention that all were medically fragile with special needs? What a fun time (really) that was. I loved it.

The house seems sooooooo quiet now with just 2 kiddos.

[timleenettesue]

Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy!!! I thought our life was cazy with 4 ages 5 and under. But today we just got two new placements! Now we have 5, 4, 3, 3, 2 and 1. Welcome to the cazy farm!!!

[catkendig]

Well, 3 of them are my bio kids - 2 four year olds and 1 two year old. So, we're all about the schedule and organization. It's only been a few days so we're still working on our system to add the newbies to the clan. We very quickly had to go to labeled cups - it was already getting ridiculous! Thankfully, the kids are similar sizes/builds and can share wardrobes. That's one less thing I have to be super organized about. (As I look at the obnoxious pile of laundry patiently waiting to be put away....)

At the moment, I think we're struggling with when and how often we should be giving bmom a call. It's bad when the Little Drummer Boy doesn't talk to her. It's ten times worse when he does. Tonight was one of those night he talked to her and it's taken a joint effort between DH and I over an hour to get him settled for sleep. There's a visit with Mom in a couple days and I can just see it coming... He's going to be a mess for days. I sincerely understand now why everyone talks about the visits being so hard on the kids. It's sad, the cw seems to think they won't be going home.

But anyway, how often do you usually have toddlers/pre-schoolers talk to bio mom/dad? I'm think I should back off and limit the contact a little more but on the other hand, I want them to still have a good connection with her in the event they are RU'd.

[4cats2kids]

Our Fd had 2 phone calls a week from both parents. And visits every week with one or the other parent. So it was 4 phone calls a week and a visit every week.

Yes it is very hard on the kids but so necessary for the ones that are going home.

[DreamingAzure]

You are having to do phone calls with biomom?? yikes Not something I would agree to with little ones, but that's me...I guess I just know of too many people who have had really bad run ins with bioparents to feel good about bios having my phone number or address...

[catkendig]

Originally Posted by DreamingAzure

You are having to do phone calls with biomom?? yikes Not something I would agree to with little ones, but that's me...I guess I just know of too many people who have had really bad run ins with bioparents to feel good about bios having my phone number or address...

Oh no, Mom doesn't have my number (or address for that matter - yet anyway). I call her from an unlisted number. But I am thinking I'm going to have to cut down the calls to only 2 a week. I'd prefer one so long as there's a visit each week. But the visitation schedule hasn't been decided on yet.

[hockeywoman]

I have 6 - 7 and under. I love the craziness - now if I can only figure out the SCREAMING! Enjoy the fun!

[snc2007]

You guys are all amazing! Do you ever get any time for yourselves? Seriously - do you? I have been wanting to fill my house up but I'm afraid I will be overwhelmed and really miss having a little time to myself.

Dh and I have been discussing accepting a new placement sometime soon but have been hesitant to make the move from one kid to two. I think I'll start a new thread on this...

[AZInsider]

Wow! Craziness :-)

On the phone calls, keep in mind that the younger the child the more frequently they need contact with parents in order to build and maintain the connection. They have no sense of time and even a few days can be "forever" to a young child. It's not easy and yes there's some backlash, but the alternative is worse.