[muddie]

I just got my first placement a week ago and am enjoying fostering more than I ever dreamed. I want to foster to adopt. The 2 little girls that I just got were an emergency placement and we are waiting to hear what is going to happen with them (how long they will be staying). I was thinking of fostering 1 or 2 more but would like some opinions. My FDs are 1 and 2 and I was thinking of asking to foster one under 1. I was wondering how many of you would take in 3/4 small children or are doing it? If I took in a 4th the age would be 5 or under. But Im thinking that I would like to see how 3 works for me before I decide on a 4th.

[twinflana]

At the present time I have a 3 year old, 11 month old and a 3 month old and while it is alot of work I love it. I had 4 at one point a 9 month old 2-2yr olds and a 41/2 year old and that was too much for me. Luckily that only lasted one month.

[shycar]

I have right now a 4yr old, a 15 month old, and a 8 month old. Like the post above while it lots of work I also love it. All I say is routine is key. Im also trying to convice hubby to take one more, but here I can no longer take one younger then 2 so I would like a 3 or 4 yr old. Good luck.

[muddie]

I just got a call today for 2 little girls that we submitted for back in July, they are W 5 and J 6. She said that they would be interviewing on Monday the 18th and we are on the top 5! It is so weird that this call came right after I posted. We did let them know that we have two FDs and she said they would do fine with younger children. My FDs SW will be coming tomorrow so I'm going to talk with her about it to make sure that my FDs are OK with two older children coming into my home. I want to make sure that everyone is happy. I'm still not sure how long my FDs will be here and I know that if we are chosen for W and J we will do visitation.
If we decide that we can not take them or we are not chosen, we are going to ask to foster another girl.



I would love to have a big family. Im going to have to get a bigger house...haha

[AmahMama]

We started fostering over 5 years ago and we are so happy to be one of the "good parts" of these children's lives!! We started with 2 in one state and eventually moved to another state and when we looked at homes~ we have room for 6 comfortably and 1 or 2 emergency placements as well. I LOVE IT. I raised my family and she has her own family. I don't have an "empty nest" and the exercise and purpose keeps me from getting one

We have begun taking larger sibling groups as they tend to be harder to place together and seem to have more behavior issues. Most of the children that we get placed have been ignored their entire lives so they tend to have issues with not being able to do as they please. We have had as many as 8 children placed at once. I try real hard to only have 1 - 2yo at a time. They are the absolute hardest - infants are the easiest. We only take children under school age (but we have taken 2 older kids and they were great!)

Shycar, you are right!!!!! Routine and more routine. After about a month the kids are WAITING for bed at a certain time - no crying or arguments. Scheduled meals and snacks make it so I don't have to spend the whole day in the kitchen (I can spend it in the laundry room instead). Nap is after lunch - if you are to old for a nap - then lay down and read. From 1 to 2:30 is MY time - unless of course the infant changes that!!

All in all - I HAVE to be needed - and this keeps me out of my neighbors business

I say "fill 'er up" and then see how it works for you!! You have heart

[po]

We have fostered for almost 20 years. Had 45 kids from 9 months to 17. We just had 8, that is the most at one time. Three of them were old enough to be a big help. They all returned home at one time. Now the house is empty. We can hardly wait for the next placement. This is the first time in years we have not had kids. three of these kids are still in touch, we had them for almost 3 years. Four years is the longest we ever had kids. Each one brings their own set of problems, but we love having them around. I spend alot of time with them. We live in the country and do alot of things outside. I don't allow much tv. You have to keep organized. po:

[muddie]

Thank you everyone for all the positive notes. It helps alot! We did talk with our FDs SW. We let her know that no matter what the children in our home now come first, since they are placed. We don't want to have them moving to another foster home (we only agreed to take two into our home). They have all ready formed bonds with us and us with them. She was glad to hear that and gave us suggestions on how we could set everyone up.

We are just waiting on the assessment to make our final decision. We should be getting that any day now. There is only 6 more days until the interview.