Our first placement had moved onto their adoptive parents and we were dealing with the emotional aftermath of separation. It wasn’t easy, we had cared for the baby since birth, pretty much, and with all the feeding and changing, late nights, it was hard to simply say goodbye. Two days later we received a call at 2am. You always think the worst at that time of the night but we recognised the number as being our Supervising Social Worker (SSW). Could we take a short term emergency placement please? We said yes and got up and dressed ready for a Police car to arrive.

The emergency placement turned out to be twins, a boy and girl aged about 3. They were of Easter European heritage and were lovely. They had been found, with a parent, being pushed in a double buggy, in November in just vests and nappies. We took them in, warmed them up and wrapped them in blankets as we had no 3yo clothes to put them in. The following morning at about 7am there was a knock on the door and it was our next door neighbour asking if everything was ok as they had seen the Police car. We explained that we were Foster Carers and, unfortunately, they would probably see a few more Police cars over the coming months and years. She asked about the twins and we said we were waiting for the shops to open so we could buy some baby grows to dress them in.

The neighbour smiled and said that they would return shortly. They returned with half a dozen baby grows that were brand new and still in wrappers. It turned out that they ran a baby clothes shop locally and that they wanted nothing for them; they said it was a ‘thank you’ for what we did. We dressed the twins in their new clothes and proceeded to feed them and try to engage with them. It was hard, due to the language barrier, but we persevered and we managed to get some smiles and laughter. Our SSW arrived at about 10am and informed us that the parent who was walking the twins around had substance issues and that they were tracking a relative who would be able to provide respite whilst the parent could sort themselves out. Even the SSW said how gorgeous they were and what lovely children they were. The SSW had brought some of the twin’s clothes with her that the parent had at home. It meant that they had coats and warmer clothes so we decided to take them out to get some fresh air. We walked for a couple of hours and the twins soon fell asleep in their buggy. We got home, put them to bed and one of us had a snooze whilst the other remained awake to hear any stirrings from the twins.

The twins ended up with us for about a week and they were a pleasure to care for. People actually commented on what lovely looking children they were and we were delighted with the work we had done with them. We had been flexible in taking the placement and had provided for the children to ensure they had everything they needed. We had got to know our new neighbour and the fact that they were handy people to know. Our SSW praised us for the work we had carried out and said that even with our lack of experience she had great  confidence in us and was sure we would have a great career in Foster Care.

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