New Skills

Welcome back to Taylor Talks!
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Tonight, I was talking with my parents for a few minutes about my blog. I'm not going to lie, sometimes I struggle with deciding on a topic for a blog post. Talking to my parents about our journey often sparks a memory or gives me a topic that I can write about.

My dad started talking about our very first foster children. We took in a sibling pair, an eighteen-month-old girl and her newborn brother. This little girl didn't even know how to talk when she came to us, because apparently no one had talked to her much at home. After just a week with us (we had already planned a vacation before we knew the kids were coming, so it was a nice way to welcome them to the family), this little girl had a whole lot to say. She just needed to be around words and speech to be able to start talking.

There was a lot that my parents taught my first little sister before the kids went back to their biological dad. They were with us for two years, growing up as part of our family, which meant that both of the kids hit many milestones in our house, such as talking, walking, eating solid foods, etc.

My parents focused on teaching my little sister skills that she would need in the real world, because they didn't know what kind of parenting the kids would get after they left our home. Skills that three-year-olds may not need to know yet, but would be helpful later on in life, were taught to my little sister if possible. This meant that my parents would teach her how to dress herself, and how to brush her teeth. She leaned how to take care of her little brother, like getting him a bottle or toddler-friendly food if he was hungry, or making sure that he was dressed for the day as well. My parents wanted to make sure that this little girl could take care of herself and her little brother no matter what situations they faced after leaving our home for good.

My parents did the same for each and every kid who entered our front door. Children learned how to care for themselves and how to watch out for younger siblings if they had any. Basic skills were taught as early as possible, because we never knew how much time we would have with these kids. My parents wanted to prepare them for whatever life would throw at them later on. I think that my parents did a great job giving all of our foster kids the skills they would need to survive in life, and I'd like to think that all of my former foster siblings are doing well today because of my parents.

Don't forget to enter the e-book giveaway for a foster care picture book! See yesterday's post for details.

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Thanks!
Taylor

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