Calling All Foster Children – Try Turning off Your Phone
- May 21, 2018
- Filed Under: Foster Family
- No Comments
- Last Updated:30th July 2020
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Facebook
Twitter
I’ve noticed that our foster children have difficulty turning off their mobile phones. My friend Margaret came round for coffee recently. We exchanged bits of news about our foster families, and I was keen to hear how she and Tom were getting on with their twins, Amy and George.
Comparing notes with other foster families can be hugely beneficial. Whether it’s about a foster child’s progress, the approaches to caring for them, or something as simple as the benefits of getting foster children to turn off their phone, it can all be helpful.
Margaret and Tom have been caring for the twins for about eighteen months and, apart from one or two ‘ups and downs’, seem to have established a happy relationship with them. Except for one thing; they feel the twins are spending too much time indoors in front of one screen or another, and there have been BIG arguments about this! Fresh air, exercise and creativity are to be encouraged, they have decided, but how?
Foster Children and Modern Technology
(Now, Margaret and Tom are as phased by modern technology as I am – I’ve got more than one ‘device’ tucked away in my spare bedroom, still pristine in its packaging and likely to remain ‘at rest’ forever. I’ve conquered my fairly basic mobile phone and successfully come to terms with my laptop, but that’s about it. The world of ‘Apps’ is a foreign country to me, and I’m not a fan of Facebook.)
Glossy Magazines
I am a sucker for glossy magazines! The latest batch was taking up more than their fair share on the coffee table, with their Utopian promises of perfect interiors, ideal domestic regimes and simple gourmet meals, not to mention grand plans for the garden. Margaret noticed two packets of seeds stuck as an inducement to buy, to the cover of one. I suggested she might like them for the twins.
Tom and Margaret have a large garden and plenty of room for the twins to have their patch. Margaret agreed it could be a way of getting them outside and away from passive screen entertainment. She popped the packets in her bag and, after a couple of hours, we said goodbye.
Looking at the torn cover of the magazine today, I thought of Margaret and the seeds and remembered how thrilled I’d been as a young child when my father gave me my own plot, a few essential tools and half a dozen brightly illustrated packets of flower seeds. Being impatient, I got up early each day after planting them, keen to see the first appearance of the tiny seedlings. But that was a long time ago, and the lure of IT was decades away!
A Catch-Up and a Surprise!
It was my turn to visit Margaret for coffee and a catch-up yesterday. The children were on half-term and, as I sank into the sofa I could hear them – outside! After a while, they appeared at the conservatory door. Their jeans were tucked into wellingtons, and they’d left a muddy trail across the patio.
Amy hopped about trying to get her boots off, and George pulled two very grubby hands out of his oversized gloves. They wanted me to go and inspect their patch, so I traipsed down the path after them, expecting to have to invent excitement as I gazed at a few rows of overcrowded radishes and a gaudy clump of annuals.
The Twins’ Creation
But it was amazing! With a little help from Tom, the twins had created their garden. They’d collected large stones from around the main garden and pushed them into a layer of sand to make a cobbled path. An old wooden gate marked the entrance, and the whole area was surrounded by a rustic fence made from Tom’s pruning of the apple trees.
George had fashioned a water feature from a discarded dustbin lid, and Amy had installed a wigwam made from bamboo canes, with sweet peas already beginning to make their way up the structure. In one corner, by Tom’s improvised pond, there was a little seat made from railway sleeper off cuts. The whole plot was charming, and the twins were very proud of it.
Birthday Requests
Margaret told me the twins had already given her a detailed list of what they wanted for their birthday in May. It was a modest list; you know the sort of thing, Lego characters, a couple of computer games, new phones – and a greenhouse! I said I wouldn’t know what to ask for in the technology department, but I thought I might be able to help with the greenhouse. My brother was moving to a retirement apartment and was keen to let his small greenhouse go to a ‘good home’ in exchange for a small amount of cash towards some new containers for his balcony.
A Present Too Big to Wrap
They don’t know it yet, but on the twentieth of May, they will receive a present too big to wrap and, possibly, the promise of a lifelong interest which will help them to put down new roots in more ways than they’d ever dreamed of! (Surprising what two little packets of seeds can lead to!) Why not share your experience of how to inspire children to try something different? And it doesn’t have to be children in foster care.
Me? I’m still planning my dream kitchen, my bedroom makeover and my culinary adventures. Oh, and I’ve enrolled in an IT course with Margaret!
Foster Nan
As a Foster Nan of eleven years, I've enjoyed seeing my child provide a loving home for more than a dozen fostered children. All children deserve to feel loved, cared for and valued, so in a foster family, we've made it a priority to do just that.
Comment Guidelines – We like thoughtful communication, so please share your opinion. Use your name rather than a business name, and if you don’t have a website, feel free to use one of your social media profiles for the ‘website’ field.