Some of my FAVORITE things as a Foster Parent (Tools, Games, ideas!)
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- čas přidán 21. 07. 2024
- In this weeks video I'm showing you some (more!) of my favorite things as a foster parent and why I think they're super useful for foster parents. I also included a few things that I use for myself to make things easy :)
Links to learn more about the items featured (Affiliate Links)
Picture charades amzn.to/3RVi2n8
Headbanz amzn.to/3U0S1p0
Magnetblocks amzn.to/48yJgqI
Picasso magnet block idea book amzn.to/3RZPbhy
Dress up construction outfit amzn.to/48UB2ZV
Cake play food Melissa and Doug amzn.to/48OtWpE
Vibes ear plugs amzn.to/3O0FjTB
Neck massager amzn.to/47Amqhc
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Laura, as someone who grew up in a traumatic household and never had a clear opportunity to be a kid or heal fully as an adult, your content is very therapeutic. Hearing you explain these dynamics with foster children, and doing so with empathy and clarity, really hits me in a deep part of my soul. Thank you for being who you are--you have NO IDEA how impactful your content is. ❤
I am so sorry you weren’t nurtured as a child ❤️🩹 I appreciate you sharing.
Yes I have the same experience with Laura's parenting. My inner child feels so safe. I ❤ her.
Yes! I agree! I decided to have and foster cats instead of kids😂 Your videos help heal the traumas I dealt with❤😊
i just want to add, the idea book for the blocks is incredible! that could be so useful and pleasant for neurodivergent, especially autistic children who play in a very pre-set way. Thank you.
yes! exactly:) thank you for pointing this out! And it can also help new parents who haven't played with them before engage with the kids and get started in their own play.
Also highly sensitive people would benefit from that (speaking from experience both my two oldest children and myself are HSP)
You are never too old for plushies. I'm currently snuggling with a blue chicken plushie and I'm an adult.
And total agreement on the doctor play kit. I'm an adult with medical trauma that caused PTSD and it's so hard going into appointments not knowing what will happen. Especially because so many medical "professionals" expect me to just set my trauma aside because it's making their jobs harder (quotes because that's not professional in any way). Often times heavily implying that I should be able to do it because I'm an adult. Unfortunately when I was freshly traumatized I had a doctor order me to stop being scared of her, and then got mad at me when I kept crying. Doctors, nurses, techs, etc have to earn my trust. And I don't care if they find that insulting. Because the only ones who have ever been insulted have been very rude, thereby proving why my trust must be earned. Whereas the doctor I trust the most (literally put my life in her hands for surgery) is from the same field as both of the doctors who traumatized me (unfortunately yes, multiple). She listened, and that's HUGE. And when I had a panic attack at my first appointment she stepped out so I could try to calm down.
Over the years I have managed to make tremendous progress and can even go to some appointments alone. When good doctor I found who gave me the surgery I'd been trying to get for years, she told me at my pre-op appointment how proud she was of me and I CRIED. Not from fear or panic, but just because she recognized just how hard it was for me to get to that point. I still have challenges, but with support I can get through.
I think trust is always something that has to be earned, for anyone. I'm not just going to trust someone I've just met, I have to see evidence they can be trusted. And once someone breaks that trust, it's going to take a lot to earn it back.
@@ET13666 exactly. Why would I automatically trust a stranger? Especially with my body. It must be earned. And almost everyone who finds that offensive usually ends up not being trustworthy. Like hmmm, pattern much?
blue chicken? is that from a certain game?
@@lemolea9571 yep, Stardew Valley, it's my favorite game
Could you do a video on an easy wardrobe for a busy foster mom?
Hi Laura, I just want to say thank you. I grew up in a horrible traumatic household that in all honesty I should have been taken from. You and your videos help me trust others again. When I'm older I want to become a foster parent, I've wanted to for years. Thank you so much for your thoughtful words and videos. It means more than you know.
The first things I saw was the rubiks cube and pop-it and as an autistic person my first thougt was she has all the tings I need.💚💚
Hell, I'm an adult and I have a go-to seal plushie for when I'm upset (bonus points because it was a special gift and brings good memories). Plushies are great for comfort, I have a bigger seal I sleep with.
Also those earbuds, do they block sounds entirely? I get migraines and have mysophonia but still need to hear stuff.
I go to concerts often, so I've gone through a couple types of ear plugs that I want to hear through, also for noisy areas like trains when I'd get overstimulated.
Depending on your budget you can either get literally just plugs, I like the reusable in ear ones you can buy at the hardware store best so far but that depends on if you tolerate having stuff inside your ear canal well (you hear yourself breathe and swallow which I'm not crazy about). There's different levels of muffling, just go with the lower end to hear more! They're also comfy to sleep in...
Tho my biggest quality of life improvement were active noise cancelling headphones. There's fancy ones that have filtering for voices, they only filter out background noise but you can have a conversation even if it's crazy loud around you.
I have 130€ in-ear headphones that just have ANC. They reduced my stress levels on long train rides by more than half.
Are/were you a teacher or a school worker? Most of these play items I have seen in Pre-K and kindergarten classes, but the magnet tiles appear in higher grades also. They're just so engaging! And the stuffies are so important because they can be taken to a "calm down" location.
hi! no, i work in event planning and have also worked in market research :)
This is very useful for me
Definitely will use these things
As an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health professional, I often find myself reminding parents, "YOU are your child's favorite toy!" That statement can be broadened to "adults with whom children have positive relationships are children's favorite toys." Yes, it is important for them to learn to play independently (without the support of an adult) and there are times when they will be totally enamored with The Marvelous Toy (it went "Zip" when it moved and "Bop" when it stopped and "Whirrr" when it stood still...), but 80% of the time, children want to play with adults. Taking the time to do that -- to just spend time in relationship with the child -- is enormously therapeutic for them.
I repeat myself; I love this channel so much! Thank you, Laura!
Hi Laura,
I really love your content, it's so informative even though I don't have/care for kids. I've recommended them to others though, who were talking about taking care of a kid that is a picky eater. I feel, since your videos come from the perspective of a foster mom, they allow for anyone who watches them to take the advice you give and change something right now in their lifes and how they raise kids, instead of staying stuck in routines, negative rituals and blame games.
I also would have a request for a video , since a friend who I rarely see has a child that at primary school age is still very much in people's faces, wants to climb them and doesn't appear to fully accept the boundaries of others. The last time I saw them was quite hard, because I was happy to see them and their mum, but they literally kept climbing all over me and seemed to find that very normal. I really wasn't sure how to deal with it, since I only see the child in person every couple of years. Would you have any ideas?
I also wanted to give you a heads's up about one thing I noticed about this video. When I saw that you included short clips of kids playing with the dolls and toys I guessed they are stock videos. I have seen previous videos of yours where you made it clear that you don't show your foster kids, but its not that visible on this video, that the kids shown are not your foster kids. I think it would be really great if you could put a disclaimer about it somewhere, just to work against the whole normalisation of family influencers and them showing their kids.
Again, thank you for the videos. I'm really looking forward to future videos of yours 😊
Thank you Laura for great content as usual. Please could you do more on toddlers, how to deal with tantrums, what to do if there are any issues such as biting, kicking, hitting other kids. Also, you did some great stuff on how to advocate and assert yourself with social workers etc, I'd love to see more of those. You are just amazing at conflict resolution from toddlers to adults :)
Have you ever watched Supernanny??
I love you. You are such a great person with a wonderful soul I bet kids love you because you think of them and make them part of your family but at the same time keeping good memories from their old home if they had one. What I’m trying to say is you are amazing
My all time favorite toy as a kid (besides crayons and coloring books) was Tinkertoy…I saw those magnet blocks and the book for how to make things, and I want to play with those!!! 😁 I know what one of my nieces or nephews are getting for their next birthday!!! (And Aunt Molly Mollie will ‘help’ them play with it, lol.) As I got a little older, what I enjoyed most was a beautiful dollhouse that my Mom and I built together. I was able to escape stress and drama at home with Tinkertoy, coloring, books and my dollhouse. Those are all great ideas for toys and games!
Great video! The only thing that's missing for me is books - but of course you have videos about books you recommend already ❤
Your content helps me a lot. Thank you.
I just boght 2 of these, and put 4 more on my wishlist haha. Thanks for such helpful suggestions! It makes me feel relieved to see someone else having and supporting earplug needs.
I would love to hear more about the no bottom syndrome. My aunt and uncle had a fosterchild with it but they were not trained to deal with it. So that child and the workers and foster parents all together desided to let hem go back to de childrenhome but i wonder what could have made it work so that sweet boy could have grown up in a loving family
At first I thought Lego but it's a pretty age specific you'd have to keep them out of reach of little littles.
Maybe Duplo could work, it's Lego but much larger
Do you only take kids or is it based on emergency?
😀😀
Mainstream brands like SKECHERS® are making hands free shoes these days for all sizes so adults and kids.
Concerned about the magnet blocks. All of them express the danger of the magnets coming off, getting lost, and (probably later) getting ingested by some little person too little to know not to. And you know that is older than we think. In trauma, they may even do something like that just for attention. Don't get me wrong, I think the mag ones are great, but...
It looks like the magnets are incased in plastic, so they'd have to break it first.
@@lemolea9571That won't change the danger of swallowing them. They are still magnets.
@@ritasmith9553 I think the person above meant the plastic itself is way too large to even fit in mouth so the magnets can not be ingested. The ones in video anyway. There are smaller ones but the ones in video are larger than a hand it seems.
We played with magnetic blocks in the hospital with my eldest son...we couldn't make anything didn't like them..I never bonded with my foster parents they just we my care givers at the time. I'm worried about my kids...I hope they are safe. I hate my crohns disease so much.
Hello, I was just wondering your age? :)