Day two of intros

We started the day with a meeting with a worker from the fostering team who had supported the foster carer when LO had moved in. The worker hadn't met him so it was a theoretical approach to reported behaviours some we know the foster carer has taken on and some haven't fitted into her approach (mainly because of other foster children in the placement). We had read the summary but this meeting helped because having met him it was easier to relate, also the worker was able to fill in the gaps more theory. We found it helpful to remember what we know about attachment and also think of how we can best support his transition.

Then we picked up LO at 11 with foster carer and went to the beach until 6.30. This was a really good experience (first swim in the sea for me this year and not too cold!). The three of us spent some good time in the sea with lots of bonding taking place - we had to carry him pick him up when he fell because of a wave, get sea water out of his eyes etc. he was shouting daddy and dad lots and looking to us to "protect" him when he was "nervous" - to be honest he have very little fear of physical danger and is a real thrill seeker, we taking this as 6 year old boy but trying to build in "keeping safe". After the beach we went to an arcade and fun fair, this started to show us some more defiant behaviour "I want" not listening (or choosing not to hear) again this felt fairly normal 6 year old stuff and we were able to toughen up a bit with him ... One more ride meant one more not a haggle over another one. After this we went to a splash park near the car park. Again this showed us some more challenging behaviour around not listening and following instructions, he was getting very tired and we would have probably taken him home sooner, but it was good to explore how to deal with issues as they came up. We took the approach of highlighting back the good behaviours we watched and just mentioning the naughty bits (he always says sorry if you mention or see naughty behaviours).

It was a long day, and very hot but so valuable to see different sides to him. He is a lovely, chatty, outgoing child who just needs a lot of input to help him developed.

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