When your children leave home, it can literally knock you sideways. The silence, the physical ache, the empty, overly-tidy rooms. Did we mention the quiet?
Admittedly, at first, it can feel like a relief. The kids are finally on their way, all grown-up, independent, finding their feet, having fun. Then there’s all the extra time to do stuff you’ve been promising yourself – lunch with friends, attacking the overgrown ‘field’, aka the garden, out the back, sorting through the loft. No more mess, no more tripping over shoes hurriedly abandoned at the bottom of the stairs. No more stinky socks stuffed down the side of mattresses.
Yet… it can be very, VERY quiet.
There’s no doubt navigating children through the tricky teenage years can be stressful, but it can intensely rewarding too. Those moments when a piece of advice is listened to AND followed AND produces the desired result; when, at the school leavers’ ceremony, your emotional-daughter-at-home, gets the citizenship award for brilliant mentoring of the school newbies; when your son is awarded the most improved player prize at the football club end of season prize giving.
So, if you have ridden the teenage rollercoaster and come out the other side relatively unscathed; if, indeed, your children have left home entirely and if you are looking to use that experience in a rewarding and fulfilling way, then we would welcome an invitation from you to find out more about fostering. You are just the type of applicants we are looking for. Fostering2Inspire are committed to supporting our foster carers along every step of their fostering journey. We provide all of our foster carers with an extensive level of support – in the form of resources, including foster carer payments, 24/7 out-of-hours advice and training and development – so that they are able to enjoy their experience as foster carers and provide high levels of care. Get in touch if you want to be part of this supported fostering community. We can answer any questions you might have about the application process, assessment and allowances.