A day in the life of Ann, a single parent foster carer looking after siblings

What a day looks like for a single foster carer looking after a brother and sister

Ann is a single foster carer of two primary school age children who are brother and sister. She has two grown up children who have flown the nest. Jack Russell, Lola is the family pet

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My typical morning as a foster carer

I start my weekday at 6am, I prefer to have my shower and get dressed before I wake the children up. It's usually about 6.20-6.30am that I wake the children as they love to go to Breakfast Club at their primary school as its something they've never experienced before.  It's the usual queue for the bathroom with teeth brushed and getting washed. By this time I have there uniforms laid out on their already-made beds.

I head downstairs to let out our dog into the garden and pop the kettle on and I fill my thermo cup to drink on the way to the bus stop.  Both children come downstairs once they are ready and pop their school shoes on. Then I do their hair so we're ready to take Lola out for a walk. 

We leave for the school bus at 7.30am as Breakfast Club starts at 8am. Once the children are signed into school, I head for the bus home and when home I make myself another cup of tea and have 5 mins to myself before I start my daily duties. This could be washing or cleaning the house or running the hoover round and dusting.  

Each day is different. There could be training or meetings with social workers or parents, or even going food shopping. Some days I'll be having our Mockingbird catch up coffee morning.  I do fit lunch in at some point...  

An afternoon well spent

My afternoon is used to prepare tea, take Lola out again before I feed her. 

I arrive at the children's school for 3.15pm, twice a week they come out of  school at 4. 30pm as they take part in after school clubs, every day we do something different to let off a bit steam, this could be going to our local park, dance classes, gardening club or science club. 

 

We get home to have tea together and like to talk about our day round the table and catch up with homework or reading books. 

The evening wind down routine

My evening starts by running a bath for the children this is usually around 6.30pm and settling them down for there bed time routine and teeth brushing... 

The brother is the youngest so he watches a film in bed until 8pm then he goes to the bathroom before I tuck him into bed and give hugs and wish him goodnight, his sister has the same routine but because she's older she goes to bed about 8.30pm.

The evening wind down routine

Some of the foster carer tasks I did today are:

• Housework including washing 
• Arranging my fostering duties 
• Preparing tea for us all
• Getting the children's bags ready for the next day 

Some things we did together today after school are:

• Sitting and read together 
• Having tea together and talking about our day
• Preparing for the next school day (swimming kits or PE kits)  
• Helping each other tidy up after tea - my little boy likes to fill the dishwasher

Something my foster children said to me today was:

• Ann, the book club is coming to our school next week
• Can we have a chip shop tea tomorrow?

Something I found tough today was: 

• Feeling tired after a busy weekend. We met up with the children's siblings for some quality time together. 

Some things coming up this week are: 

• My driving lesson. 
• Training online 
• Care team meeting

Since becoming a foster carer, the biggest way my days have changed is:

Some days are extremely busy but not every day. While the children are at school I catch up with my adult children or other foster carer friends for lunch or a coffee before children come out of school. I also have amazing Mockingbird hub carers and plan sleepovers and days out to have some Ann time, even just to relax at home and do nothing is also nice. 

I mostly find that as a foster carer

I find as a foster carer that my role is very rewarding and I love the relationship I've got with my foster children and looking forward to seeing them grow into young adults themselves. 

Not every day is the same, sometimes appointments and meetings have to be cancelled or rearranged if the children are poorly. 

My number one tip as a foster carer is:

Get yourself a good diary and write every thing down, appointments, meetings, school activities etc. Every night when the children go to bed I sit with a cup of tea and check my appointments for the next day.

                                                      Read a life in the day of long-term foster carers Lesley and Stephen