There are currently record numbers of children in care and around 13% of the foster carer workforce retiring or leaving every year. The Fostering Network estimates that fostering services across the UK need to recruit at least a further 8,600 foster families in the next 12 months alone. There is a particular need for foster carers to look after teenagers and sibling groups.
I have recently supported one of my very best friends to become a foster carer, by providing a reference and she was approved. She has a lot of love to give, time and stable home life. I couldn’t be prouder of her.
UK Fostering NE supports fostering families in their care of vulnerable children and young people that are not able to currently live at home and are often needing additional support and understanding. The friendly and professional team is based in Sunderland and covers Tyne and Wear; County Durham and Northumberland; as well as parts of the Teesside area in North Yorkshire.
There are many routes to Foster in this country, which is confusing in itself. But they must be inspected by Ofsted, like schools and colleges, so this can give an indication of how to find a good one. So check out Ofsted ratings if you would like to look into the possibility of fostering.
Whilst having kids is great, there is one thing that you will quickly realise as a parent. Kids are messy, and this mess isn’t just resigned to your home; it can appear anywhere you have your children with you.
This even means that you can start to see their mess in the car. If you use your car regularly or drive it long distances (or even if you don’), the last thing you will want to find is a messy, dirty and disorganised car, whether it’s a brand new Bentley or a bit of an old banger.
But, where do you start? How do you keep your car clean when you have kids just ready and waiting to mess it up again?
Have space to organise
As a parent, you need to make sure that your car has space to organise and tidy some of the things that can build up in there. Of course, many of these things already have another home, but if they don’t, you will need to make somewhere for them to live. This may mean adding storage to your boot or any other part of your car.
Clean regularly
This might seem like an obvious tip, but kids can quickly make a mess of your car, which means that if you don’t want that mess to build up over time, you will clean it regularly. Even better, make it a chore and ask the children to help you to clean your car once a fortnight.
Give them a place for trash
If you don’t give your children a place to bin their trash, how can you expect them to keep the car clean? Ensure that your kids have their own trash disposal spot that they can use to throw their junk away rather than it ending up on the floor.
Cover your seats
Worried about the state your seats are going to be in? Not sure that you know a way to clean them? If this is true for you, you will want to invest in car seat covers. These protect your seats and are completely washable, which means that you don’t have to worry about replacing them regularly.
Remove the smells
Cars can get stinky over time, which is even worse if you have children eating snacks in your car. If you don’t want to ban them (which might be a better idea if we are honest), then you can always leave a bowl of vinegar in your car overnight and then remove it in the morning. The smell will be gone.
Have stain remover to hand
Whilst you may not be able to clean the seats when you are driving, you can get to wherever it was that you were going. This means that it is worthwhile having a stain remover in your car ready to use if you spot a stain. This could be shop bought or hand-made, it is down to you.
There are plenty of ways that you can try and keep your car as clean as possible, even with your kids doing their best to make it messy. So, what are you waiting for? Try these tips out and see if you can gift yourself a beautifully clean and organised car.
Going on a family road trip is easily one of the best ways to travel. If you are keen to do this at some point in the near future, you are going to want to make sure that you are truly ready for it. In order to ensure that, there are a few key checks that you might want to make first and foremost. Doing that is going to save you a lot of hassle later on, so it’s definitely worth it. It will also mean you can have a safer and more enjoyable journey and holiday with your family.
One of the most important early checks to make is whether your car insurance is up to date on the vehicle that you intend to take. After all, if it is a vehicle that you only normally use rarely for these kinds of events, you might not automatically be aware of whether it is currently insured or not – and if it is not, that is going to land you in a lot of trouble, especially if you have an accident. Go to a leading independent auto insurance broker and get your insurance, should you need to, before you set out on the trip.
Is The Vehicle Clean?
You might not feel that this is quite as important, but it is nonetheless a check that you are going to need to make if you want to ensure you are truly ready for the road trip. If the vehicle is not clean, it is not going to be as nice to drive, and also it might be getting dirtier on the road anyway, so starting out cleaner is going to be very helpful in this way. You also need to ensure it is clean and tidy on the inside – if there is no room in the back for storing what you need, that is going to make things a lot more difficult.
It helps to know where you are going and where along the way you will be stopping – or at least to know a few of the main stops that you will take. This means you can plan your trip a lot more effectively and ultimately have many fewer problems along the way, and that is clearly something that you will want to aim for in general. Get your map out and work out where some of your stops will be now, before you actually hit the road.
Are You Prepared For Emergencies?
You never quite know what will happen on the road, so you need to make sure you are prepared for all kinds of emergencies. That partly includes having emergency items in your car, and ensuring that you are insured and have appropriate breakdown cover. The more prepared you are for a wide range of emergencies, the better. You need to double-check this before you go away, to ensure that you are genuinely ready for it.
As parents, there is much we can do to care for the health and well-being of our children. From encouraging them to exercise with a few healthy hobbies to making all the necessary health checkups, we can make sure they are well looked after.
For the context of this article, we can also take steps to promote good health at home. So, consider the following suggestions and go the extra mile to protect the health of each member of your family.
#1: Deal with any household repair issues
Not every repair issue will have an impact on the health of your family, but there are those that will. A faulty AC system could result in a house that is too hot or too cold, for example, and that could put your family at risk of a number of health problems, including pneumonia when the house is icy. If rain is leaking through your roof, there could be issues with damp and mould, and this could lead to breathing problems for those who are vulnerable. And there could be any number of other issues that could prove detrimental to the people in your house. So, arrange for the necessary repairs to be made by calling on a 24 Hour AC Service, roofer, or any other professional that can put right whatever has gone wrong in your home.
#2: Stop using chemical cleaning products
Chemical cleaning products are famously bad for the environment but they can be bad for the health of your family too. They can be hazardous to the touch and when breathed in, and they are especially problematic for those already suffering from respiratory problems. Of course, you do need to clean your home. A dirty house will obviously have repercussions on your family’s health, but you don’t need to buy store-bought products. Use the tips here to make your own cleaning products, using natural ingredients that are both safe for the environment and for your family.
#3: Make sure everybody eats a well-balanced diet
For the sake of their short and long-term health, your family needs to eat foods that are of nutritional value. This means fewer bags of crisps, microwave processed meals, and takeaway foods, and more fruit and veggies in their diet. Of course, you will know this already, but if you have fussy children (and a fussy partner), getting them to eat something healthy can be quite difficult. Still, it’s not impossible. There are some tips here on how to get your kids to eat vegetables, and you will find other ideas online. Be sure to replace unhealthy snacks with healthier alternatives too, as this is another way to ensure better health for your family.
#4: Share feelings with one another
“How was school today?” you ask your child. “Fine!” they reply as they storm up to their bedroom. “How was work today?” you ask your partner. “Fine” he replies as he grumpily plonks himself down on the sofa. And how was your day? Well, nobody asked you so you won’t have a chance to express your innermost thoughts. The point we are making here is this: We all need the opportunity to share our feelings as opening up can have benefits for our mental health. So, focus on this within your home, for the benefit of everybody. Make time each week for conversation, perhaps during mealtime, and gently encourage people to talk when you sense something might be upsetting them. Oh, and for the sake of your mental health, don’t be afraid to open up to your family when you need to express how you really feel.
Finally
For the physical and mental health needs of your family, consider our suggestions. Take all the necessary steps to protect everybody’s wellbeing, and do whatever else you can to ensure everybody’s health needs are met both in and out of the home.
Christmas 2020 was an emotional rollercoaster. Having something to look forward to as the world opened up again was high on our agenda, and the tickets for Christmas at Raby Castle happily coincided with that dream when the email arrived in early September. We don’t live that far away from Staindrop, so we accessed the grounds to the castle late summer when we were able, this thankfully meant that we were added to the mailing list to let us know the Christmas sessions were going on sale – so we snapped up the Fireside Stories with Father Christmas tickets for our 4-year-old and 2-year-old
Last year was the first year our eldest enjoyed Christmas, so with the little one being another year older too, we were excited to see the magic through their eyes. We booked 9,30am on Christmas Eve as we thought any earlier would be really hard for the little one to understand why there was such a wait for the presents!
As covid restrictions didn’t lift as we had all hoped before Christmas, Raby Castle had an impossible task – did they cancel altogether or did they pivot how they offered a little bit of Christmas to the children and thankfully they pivoted! Everyone who bought a ticket was offered a refund or an alternative and in my personal opinion, the alternative saved Christmas!
Rather than changing our expectations of Christmas Eve – it topped any expectations that we had. I know they couldn’t summon the snowfall, but the snow fell, the reindeer were huddled beneath the trees when you looked over from the castle grounds, it was brilliant!
The first part of the experience was supposed to be on the Castle Terrace which is outdoors, where children could spot the
presents around the terrace – but as we were the first ones there and they could see the anticipation in the little ones, they let us go into Santa first because there was no queue. Santa was in a present store, which is a sheltered outdoor space in a courtyard of the castle, which is not normally open to the public.
Not the best quality picture but the little one turned away from Santa as he started talking, almost as to compose himself and had the biggest grin in his face. It was worth it, just to see that elation. Father Christmas was absolutely wonderful and had a great chat with the children, our eldest did not move, he could hardly speak I think he was so immersed in the moment. As they were the only ones there, I think they got a little extra time as the ‘Footman’ on the door kept coming around as to almost prompt Santa, but we did not feel rushed it felt like an organic end to the experience. The presents the children got were very high quality too.
We present spotted around the castle afterwards, which because of the snowfall and reindeer felt magical. We even met a little pony called Elvis. We talked to the cafe and shop but unfortunately, the shop was not open as we had walked back up to the castle before opening time, I think it was meant as an ‘exit through the gift shop’ from the enchanted walk. We had tickets for the enhanced walk but as we had finished early with Santa, our boys were a little tired of waiting in the cold for the walk to open, so by the time we got in they weren’t as enchanted as we had hoped for! They did make it to the end to get their little gift, though!
So truly thank you, Raby Castle, for saving our Christmas and giving our little boys a little bit of Christmas magic.
