Nursing ambition
Throughout Sons and Daughters Month this October we will be hearing from sons and daughters of foster carers as they share their experiences of growing up in a fostering household. In this blog Rebekah writes about how her time as part of a fostering family has shaped her plans for the future.
I’ve been part of a fostering family for four and a half years during which time I have learnt a lot. I have changed nappies, got up in the middle of the night to feed babies and become one of The Fostering Network's young champions in Scotland.
It’s great seeing the kids who come to us smile and respond to me when I’m around. I really enjoy having fun with them, going to places with them and watching them experience nice things. Seeing some of the children who are ill getting better and watching them grow into healthy children is one of the best things about fostering.
The worst part is struggling with very demanding kids with challenging behaviour and not knowing how to help them and saying goodbye to children when they leave. However, having said that, giving a family who can't have kids the chance of a family is lovely. The last two kids who were with us went to a lovely, very deserving couple, and watching them meet for the first time was amazing.
Continuing contact
We have managed to keep in touch with the girls; in fact, we have just been to their christenings, which was wonderful. They even included us in the ceremony and the girls sat beside us, it was so special to be considered part of their family. We keep in touch with other children who have been with us and have been adopted too and see them at school holidays. Sadly we don’t stay in contact with the kids that go back to their parents, which can be difficult; we had one little boy for two years and never seeing him again will be hard.
My friends say that they couldn't do it but they say they’re proud of me for doing it and think we are such a great family! That makes me cringe as we're not special. We are a very close family anyway and I don't know anything different - it's just who we are and what we do.
Being part of a fostering family has influenced me a lot. After caring for babies going through drug withdrawal, premature babies and kids with additional needs and issues, such as foetal alcohol syndrome, I now want to become a paediatric nurse.
