Room Tour: Kids Room

Again, a challenge to do a gender neutral room for a wide variety of ages, but I had fun picking things out. Toys are contained in the activity table storage bins, brown storage bins in closet, and on shelf in closet.

Beds/mattresses- Given by family member and spraypainted white
Nature duvet- Vandring Rav from Ikea
Striped duvet- From Ikea but purchased from Ebay
Lamp- Target clearance
Map- From Etsy and frame from Joanns
Nightstand and dresser- Given by family members
Bunting- From Etsy
Table/chairs- RiverRidge Kids Activity Table from Walmart
Shelving unit- ClosetMaid Cubeicals from Target
Manners art- from Etsy and hung with shoelaces and clothes pins from Dollar Tree

Room Tour: Nursery

Nursery

Crib

Art from book pages: "The world is so full of a number of things,
I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings".

Pinterest-inspired craft

DIY art

Dresser

Bookshelf

 

 

It was a challenge to come up with a gender neutral room that is ready for a baby anywhere from newborn to about to graduate from the crib. I got the look I wanted with a lot of DIY and thrift store finds.

Crib- Sundvik from Ikea
Crib Mattress- Vyssa Vinka from Ikea
Sheets- aden + anais "Up, Up, and Away Elephant" from Amazon
Grey knit blanket- Crocheted by a dear friend 
Book page art on walls and dresser- Thrift store book "A Child's Garden of Verses" by RL Stevenson and Ikea frames
Hoop art- Inspired from Pinterest (I lost the link) and made by me (cut out shapes with fabric and sewed via thick thread)
Verse art- Made by me on Word and Hobby Lobby frame
Milk glass mirror- Thrift store
Quilt- Family heirloom
Dresser- Repainted a dresser given from family member
Shelf- Expedit from Ikea and baskets from Ikea

Three More Calls

We've had three more calls- 2 for a sibling group of three where all of the kids were school aged and 1 for a baby that needs a stay at home parent due to injuries and possible medical issues. So, still no placement yet.

Six calls already in less than a month. Fifteen total kids. And this is just in my county/immediate area, and is probably not even all of the kids that have come into custody in that time. It really shows the need for more foster families, especially ones where people have the space and experience to parent elementary school aged sibling groups.

Two More Calls

We've gotten two more calls already, but we aren't qualified for either of them. The first was a sibling group of three elementary school age children removed by CPS in the middle of the night. This would have been a temporary placement until they could go with relatives, but we don't have three beds. We both would have loved to help on this one. I felt so sad when we had to say no. I can imagine how scared they were to come into foster care in the middle of the night. :(

The other call was for a teenage girl. We're not comfortable with parenting any teenager right now, even on a temporary basis. So, that was an easy "sorry, but no".

Foster Care in the Media: SVU

Law and Order- SVU is one of my favorite shows, and unfortunately is one of the biggest offenders for misportraying foster care.

Season 3, Episode 9 "Care": A 5 year old girl in foster care "Cassie" is killed... First, DCS doesn't even contact the biological mom, and she has to find out from the detectives coming to her door to question her boyfriend. The biological mom took the other two children from the foster home (kidnapped them and was taking a bus out of state).

It all comes out... the foster parent let previous kids live in soiled clothes and missed appointments. When the detectives confront the foster care agency, they make excuses while she was allowed to continue being a foster parent and eventually care for the above sibling group. Then, the foster grandmother trumps all that, and it is revealed she is the one who beat Cassie to death with her cane... after forcing Cassie to drink a lot of water and wet the bed.

Yes, there are times biological parents take off with children (although it's rare), and foster parents are abusive... but these events are in the minority. When this is the only face shown to foster care, it is very misleading.

Foster Care in the Media: Pretty Little Liars

I have always had a soapbox about the way foster care is portrayed in the media. The news loves to rehash isolated incidents. Fictional shows feed the stereotype that foster parents are in it for the money, foster children are pathological, and CPS workers could care less and "lose" kids on their caseload. So, I will be doing an ongoing post of pointing these stereotypes out.

In Pretty Little Liars, one of the characters, Caleb, is in foster care. His foster mom, Janet, berates him when she comes to the school. He hates living with her so much he is homeless at times and living with other characters' families at times- all so he won't have to go "home". It is pointed out several times that she still receives a check for him, although he is not staying with her. She is portrayed as a cruel, money hungry lady. The show portrays him as able to live elseswhere and CPS never notices or cares.