This is a Better Fit for Our Foster Family
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- Опубліковано 10 лип 2024
- We made a switch to the kids rooms. In this video we show the girls' room and provide some foster family related tips and info as it pertains to kids' belongings.
✅ Video audited 9/21/2021
General kid and foster parent related discussions, nothing that shares confidential or private information.
There is always a need for ❤LOVING❤, 💪SUPPORTIVE💪, and 🕒PATIENT🕒 foster parents who will ⚖ADVOCATE⚖ for the kids placed in their home. We hope that by us sharing our journey as a foster family, that it inspires others to learn more. Contact your county, foster care agency or visit www.adoptuskids.org to learn more.
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Be The Village
P.O. Box 348
Maineville, OH 45039
That spot under the bed is just begging to be made into a cozy hideout with pillows and blankets and a cute lamp.
Agreed!
So glad Darcy has a foster sister her age. I had so much fun with my sister and I sharing a room.
Ikea has a low bunk bed called Kura. $180 ish in USA. In general, Ikea has lots of multi-purpose &/or smaller footprint furniture.
Agreed.
Can also get it used, I think we paid $80 on OfferUp.
We have the Kura and had to get an exception for our foster care license because they didn't consider the bottom bunk an actual bed. They considered it a mattress on the floor. It didn't matter if it was intended for bio kids or foster kids. Just FYI
I didn't even think about saving clothes that don't fit foster kiddos anymore. It's a great point. The families may not have a lot or may just prefer to store unused clothes for hand-me-downs or to swap with relatives or friends. Such a great point!
Yeah. Made sense to let kids have agency over what to keep or give away/contact the family about. If i were a foster, this might be tacky but if the family didn't want it, I'd keep it as a back up for the next batch since it might not always be feasible to run out and get what they need right away. But one exception to that would be their favorite t-shirt i would turn into a quilt. That way they can continue to enjoy it as they get older and can have it as something consistent through their time of changes. I did one for my godson and he absolutely loved it!
I purchased a bean bag chair cover for my girls that holds all their stuffed animals. They can play with them and then just stuff them back in for another chair. They have really enjoyed it. They lay on it and read when not playing with the stuffed animals.
Wait.. that's an amazing idea!!!!
I, as a kid, would be concerned about the plushies being squished 🤣
(I felt bad after dropping my bike too)
So, great idea but might not work for some quirky kiddos 😉
Also cool is a "plushie hammock", it's like a net they can just toss them onto and (especially with a bunk bed) it can be hanged up high so no adults are needed to get a toy out.
Or you can have them poke the toys out with a stick (poke the bottom of net to make toys fall out) and then throw them back in basketball style.
@@d-meth Yeah I, as a kid and even until now, would never sit on any of my plushies I also never tossed them. They are all my friends. I usually have a low shelf where I line up all my plushies.
Wow, I have so many comments to this video... I have never noticed how much Sawyer looked like John. Then, again I love how much respect you have for the foster kids and their parents to not feel comfortable throwing away any belongings even if they may have been replaced by newer items etc.
Heart of this for the second part of the comment 🙃
I thought the same regarding Sawyer!
@@lijohnyoutube101 My dad always says like Father lik Son. I deny it all the time but my Mom and my sister say I am so much like my Father in many ways.
I just found y’all today and I think I’ve binge watched like 20 videos. 😂😂
Welcome to the village 😀
🥺 the village welcoming others
Thanks for binging!
I’m doing that today.
This sounds like a great fit. I bet the teen girl is happy to have her privacy and the little ones love having a friend in their room. At 6 and 8, I was SO glad that my sister was in my room and I didn't have to sleep alone. I couldn't imagine being a little foster child and sleeping alone in an unfamiliar room.
I was looking at your Amazon wish list, and it looks like you still have Little B’s name as her previous name in the description. I’m just letting you know in case you would like to change that. I love the new changes you have made to the bedroom.
It’s so nice that the kids can share rooms! In the UK every foster child must have their own private bedroom. In rare circumstances siblings who are fostered together can share a room, but they are never permitted to share with a foster carer’s bio kids, and never with a child of the opposite gender. It’s a shame because it prohibits a lot of great people from becoming foster carers!
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing what it’s like in the UK.
That is interesting about the UK. I am soooooo surprised just how crazy even the difference in state is. I can't imagine countries.
@@BeTheVillageCommunity there's a writer called Cathy Glass (I'm pretty sure it's a pen name) who writes books about fostering kids in the UK.
Interesting stuff.
Maybe you can write a book one day too.
Personally I think foster children having their own room should be the norm
I’m jealous they can have bunk beds! We are not allowed to have any kid of raised bed.
Such a cozy, welcoming place for the little girls. I'm glad they get to share a room with a more age-appropriate roommate, it's probably so much fun for the younger girls and relaxing for big sis. I'm looking forward to the other room tour! It's especially interesting to me because of the age gap between the boys - it's not as large as the gap between my roommate brothers but they were a bit older when they started sharing a room.
Also, I love how you make sure each girl can keep her individual belongings safe, both for Darcy, who is sharing so much but is allowed to have her own boundaries. And it means the littlest sweetie doesn't have to share things when she might be uncomfortable with that.
Lil B and Darcy’s room is so nice! That’s a lot of fun for these 2 girls to share a room.
It's nice that your kids are cool with sharing a room! I was always the kind of kid that Would Not have tolerated sharing a room. I've always been a big introvert and very sensitive to sensory things, particularly loud noises, so having a place where I could reliably go for some quiet alone time was very important to me right away.
I love kid room makeovers. It's always the best part of making focal points of their favorite happy / comfort possessions. My bro and his girlfriend had a child and I ended up raising him kinda on my own. I found a hutch free on Craigslist and redesigned it and made it into his activity center. It took up most of a wall but the storage I got out of this thing was wonderful. As he grew I changed out it's theme 5 times with paint and accents.
How are y’all doing? I know y’all are going through a hard time with the privacy issue. Your channel is so wonderful and has educated a ton of people on the world of foster care. There aren’t many channels like yours like really go into what it is like to foster children. I am so grateful that you have opened your family to UA-cam and are making foster care content. It really helps people like me who want to foster see the reality of foster care. I know I’m not the only one who is super appreciative of you and John taking us on this journey! ❤️
The room looks super cute! Great organization too! 🥰 I hope the girlies love their transformed room
They really do ☺️
Thanks for all you do, Whitney (and John)! We love you and your family’s heart. ❤️
Appreciate you ❤️
Sending you all so much love, Whit! So many good vibes every day. You and John are both doing such an incredible job for kiddos who need and deserve love 🤍✨
Thank you ❤️❤️❤️
Doing an amazing job with the kiddos🎉
When you revealed the open space and said you wouldn't be making it movable, I definitely thought that would be a great little area to keep her stuffed animals and her and Darcy to just "tent" for play time.
You should look at Beddy’s bedding for the girl’s room. It makes it so easy to make up their beds and they have such pretty options.
So expensive though!! :(
@@claire7418 also not everyone wants their sheets tucked in. I know most people tuck their top sheets in by where their feet go, but I actually can’t stand having them tucked
Lol love the wave from behind the camera at the end
You are doing an amazing job!! Keep sharing!!
Stuffed animal storage: stuffed animal hanging net or bean bag chair that opens to store them we also did a laundry hamper stuffie storage 😄
Laundry hamper for stuffies... So much nostalgia, it's so practical and fun even if it's not the most 'chic' solution
Oh my gosh that space behind the bottom bunk is perfect for stuffed animals! That's such a struggle point in my house lol
ahh so excited so early glad i had not notifications on
❤️
This room is so so cute!! Looks more functional and fun for the younger girls! Also side note, I have the exact same bed sheets as the ones on the bottom bunk! Odd but cool haha 😆
How cool!
My daughter has a big Minnie and a small Minnie as well....something about stuff animals that they just love!
i think its cute we have low bunkbeds like that in our youngest 2 girls and our boys rooms. they love it and no worry about a kid falling off a ladder which happened to i think me and everyone of my siblings at some point as a kid.
We put all our stuffed toys in a bean bag cover and the kids use it like a giant cushion and then pull out the toys when they want to play
This is an AMAZING idea!!! I’m literally screenshotting this comment and saving it so I remember to do this 😂
Maybe look into the concept of a family closet, especially during the initial settling in time so that you can have access to clothes in a central location whenever needed. I’m sure if a small child needs to be changed in the middle of the night you don’t want to wake up others.
Love how thoughtful you are re: things the kiddos come with that they may not currently be using. So important to show them and their families that the items they come with have value.
Are you no longer using code names for your three newest kiddos? Just asking because I know you've had to make some changes, and I noticed no code names in this video.
Love what you've done with the little ladies' room! :)
Got my kids a bean bag that you can fill with stuffed animals. It’s been great & they still play with the toys
You need to look online at “creativeQT” they have what looks like a bean bag but you can store stuffed animals in them. Then they can unzip them and play with their animals and put them back and use it like a bean bag. I got them for my kids and I love them!
They're on amazon also. They probably like to see their toys though to know they're there.. in my placements I would keep closet doors open to see my clothes.
You should try bean bags for stuffed animals. I forget what they are called but helps to keep the stuffies organized.
My two little ones (now middle ones) had junior bunks and i bought the stuffed animal hammocks...whatever they are called and put one on the top bunk and bottom on the side their feet would go.
Cute idea. Hav a good nite 🌛
Bean bag for each girl for stuffed animals for sure,
I like your hand wave at the end hehe👋
So awkward 🙃
👋 Be The Village!
👋🏼👋🏼👋🏼👋🏼 hey!!
Walmart and Amazon has space saving bunk beds for under $200
My sister has one and the ladders don’t stick out and they’re not really really high up. Great for kids of all ages. So they’re no wider then a twin bed.
Is moving away from their “B” nicknames one of the changes you’re making for the channel? I noticed you didn’t use them for the video. Should we avoid using those nicknames in the comments as well? I wouldn’t want to do anything that might complicate things with your agency/county.
Wanted to ask the same thing. What could the agency possibly have against those nicknames?
I would also love to know the answer to this!
Wondering the same... They seem to be adjusting well to where they are & we wanna make sure they stay & then go to their family member as less problems as possible. Maybe just Baby girls & Baby boy 🤷🏼♀️ they deserve names, they do exist.
I was wondering this too! Maybe they can’t even acknowledge them except for their gender
I would assume they aren’t going to reference them at all.
I love your videos I used to be a foster care worker but social media was kind of just starting and you could not post pictures. I know each agency is different. I think you should be come certified to teach the classes because you are doing great
I bet the girls love having each other as roomates! It's like they're sisters. What types of stufffed animals do they have?
I used to have a little net that hung up in corner that is where i kept my stuffed animals as a kid...it housed alot of my lovies👍🏻😊👍🏻😊...but it was nothing fancy it hung catty corner from ceiling. I looked it up on Amazon its a called a toy hammock
I used to be so jealous of kids with those!
same! except mine was a 4 tiered cylinder netting one
there are cool
“hammock” style things for stuffed animals that hang in the corners of rooms and hold a ton of stuffies! search stuffed animal hammock it should come up
I’ve seen various types of “empty bean bag chair” style items for sale that are like a big zippered material bag to store all your stuffed animals in, and then use as a comfy chair until you want to swap for another stuffed animal. Some of them are really cute. I don’t have kids though, so I have no idea how that would work out in real life or if they’d ever want to put them back in on their own 😂
We have one of those, it works great! They just need help sometimes putting in the first few stuffed animals. And don’t unzip it all the way, only halfway, to put the toys back in.
They work great. I got one for my nephew and every time he gets a new stuffed, they take one of the older ones and add it to the beanbag stuffing.
Always love the room tours!!!
So glad you like them!
Why not try the vinyl work top paper over the bed instead of painting it that way the paint won’t chip off lovely to hear from you all much love Sarah x
That’s a great idea
Great job on the room. Loved seeing cutie Sawyer. Also, why can't foster kids have movable beds?
Nice job!
10 seconds I have never been so early to any video!
👋🏼👋🏼👋🏼👋🏼👋🏼
💗
I have 3 little sisters, 6, 4, and 2. It is so much easier to treat the older two like twins since they are only 16 months apart. Anytime we buy anything we automatically by two. It makes arguing over something as trivial as toys a little smaller.
Stay safe💛♥️🧡🧡
Besafe💛♥️🧡💚
Hi from Scotland x
Well hello!
New subscriber here!
Thanks for joining!
Great work! I would be interested in knowing how you keep your bio kids and the foster kids toys or clothes identified if they are similar ages/ gender?
That type of bed seems kinda pointless if you cant roll it under when not using it, would you ever change it to a bunk bed so that there is more space in the room?
I noticed Sawyer doing the "W" style of sitting in the video. It isn't normally a problem, but if he does it extremely frequently you may want to start softly correcting his sitting position. Take it from me, I sat like this nearly constantly as a toddler and child, it caused permanent weakness and inflexibility in different areas of the lower half of my body, which inhibited me greatly in following my passions. I was in a full time performing arts school which focused heavily on the physical side of the arts. Despite me training hours with the company every day for years, early on I reached a plateau and never progressed past a certain point in every area that involved physical activity, the weakness and inflexibility in my lower body just held me back and I was too far gone to be fixed. I had to move into areas of performing that didn't require much physical activity, which was still fun, but limiting, and it didn't feel good when the environment you're in is so focused on physical skills and achievements. Not to mention my lifelong terrible posture. I don't know his situation or Drs at all though so feel free to tell me to buzz off with my nosy comments haha.
Seconding this... It's really not good for their hips and knees!
Do you get an estimate of the timeframe kids will be staying with you from the caseworker when they first arrive?
We do not get a timeframe when a child is placed with us.
Are you not allowed to have code names for them anymore?
Love ya and support ya!
What do you do if a child for what ever reason can’t or won’t sleep alone. Many kids will sleep in their parents room when this arises but what can you do for a foster kid? I suppose sharing rooms like Darcy and the youngest foster kid could help but what if that’s not an option?
Update * just noticed you already answered the first part of this question in another comment but would love an answer to the other parts :)
I notice since addressing that changes to the channel are being made to help further protect the kids and keep integrity to the foster rules that you have stopped using the nicknames - should we also do the same when addressing in the comments? I’m guessing maybe the agency said nicknames are a grey area or something and to avoid them ?
Also Is it a set of rules designed for this case only ? Is “Miss A” still okay to say and would you have had to stop referring to her as that if she was still with you or it is ok because she is no longer in foster care ? Or just simply different rules with each case ?
Also I notice she’s still in the intro which I think is Amazing but I’m assuming a big part of the changes you had to make in deleting some videos was that you showed parts of the new kiddos (even though you didn’t show their faces) and the agency doesn’t want outsiders having any clue to appearances to include height estimate, hair style , etc.
Would LOVE if you could make a video going a little more into detail about the rules on social media / sharing about foster kids so that others can learn and know best what to do. Your video was great when you initially addressed making changes but I think a little bit more in depth on the particulars can help us as viewers do our part in how we address your family in the comments sections to further protect it and for those who foster or wish to 💜💜💜
Why doesn’t the bottom bed have a bedspread? Darcy’s does. Stuffed animals between the bed & wall is a good idea. I was thinking before u said something that they could put something over there.
Maybe the kid prefers to sleep with just a blanket or sheets? Sometimes kids prefer to sleep one way vs another and a bedspread would have been pointless if she didn't like them.
Perhaps you should edit video when you show the boys' room due to the names on the wall?
The names that she has on the wall are her own biological children’s names, not foster kids, so it’s fine to have them in the video. The other room where sawyer and the foster boy are sleeping don’t have names on the wall.
Great, I was worried if it may cause more trouble
I don’t know why, but I feel so much stress getting a room ready for a foster placement. Not knowing if I am getting a boy/girl, could be 4, could be 14...I want the rooms to look nice when they first arrive, but also want to leave enough creative space to let them choose things that suit their personality should they be staying for a prolonged period of time...
The things you can do is get the room in some natural colors. Like the walls the bed, just make these things white or gray. Than You can get some decorations for multiple age groups and gender. Also the bedding makes a really big difference in what the room feels like. Just getting frames and printing (or painting) pictures is also an idea to make the room their own.
I'm not sure but could it be that the sign on the wall gave away the name of mr. B? Just at the very beginning of the video
It's sawyers name,
Qestion for anybody who knows anything about the whole foster care/adoptiom stuff. So if a child was put in foster care/adoptiom but there siblinsg werent (becouse diffrent houses and gardians but still siblings) could they still see the siblinsg who arnet in foster care/adoptipn.
Im a little confused. The three girls are in one roon? (Which is fine) I think I missed something.
No, just the two younger girls. Then the boys together and the oldest has her own.
@@BeTheVillageCommunity Thank you for explaining. Im so sorry if I missed something! Love you guys.
I hope you are all doing well, I love the girls room it looks really cosy!
I have a question but don't worry if you aren't able to answer it right now, will the nicknames and no camera appearances be for all past, present and future placements?
I love this channel its so inspiring, you're such an amazing and caring Foster mom ❤🧡💛
Present and future at this point.
I know some people have a fear that if they foster and have a false allegation made against them, they could not only lose their foster license but also their bio kids? Would you be willing to address this in a video if you haven’t already?
Can't you show miss A now because she is out of foster care? Just wondering :)
No.
did you forget to edit the beginning of this video? there's a name visible that hopefully isn't a kiddo's actual name but I wanted to mention it just in case!!!
That’s our biological sons name ☺️
@@BeTheVillageCommunity oh I get it, it's his middle/second name! hahah sorry to bother!
Wait... what is the problem with the bed having wheels? I would've never thought there would be a rule against that
I'm guessing risk of injury. Beds that roll can run over little toes/ fingers. If a child were playing under the top bunk and the lower bed was pushed back accidentally during play, it could cause injury. Kids are kids and things happen. Just taking safety precautions.
@@phoenixspirit9530 That makes sense, thank you!
@@dela2612 It has come to my attention, their reasoning was that beds on wheels may not be viewed as " permanent" beds. This could possibly affect the children's mental and emotional needs for security and belonging.
I personally still view safety as another potential hazard.
This might be obvious but why can't you have a moveable bed for a foster kid?
Not a silly question! It may be viewed as not a “permanent” bed?
@@BeTheVillageCommunity that feels like a good safe guard
So the kids can't be in the videos at all anymore?
Correct.
Did you get the Blue Light Special done to your face? Both of my parents have had it done a couple times. If it was I understand why you don’t want to be on camera! Sorry this comment is totally unrelated to the actual video.
She said a peel, probably a TSA (I think they're called) I've been looking at getting one also.
@@HughMadBro the blue light special is also a peel. I have no idea what it’s actually called.
It was a micro needle + peel. I have bad acne scars so I’m doing a series of these to limit their appearance. But I look like I was in a horror movie lol
This may not be a question that you’d want to do a video on, but are there any difficulties you face with being a non religious foster family? I know that you’re in Cincinnati which is a city, but it’s still Ohio (well, Kentucky in all but name.) I just see a lot of foster families being religious and agencies for adoption and things like that being faith based. There are likely religious parents whose kids are in care. I was just wondering if you’ve faced any challenges not being religious.
Not at all. And we specifically picked a non-faith based agency.
how come you didn't call them miss B mr B and little Bee this time? :)
See previous video-their county prohibited them from discussing/showing kids to the degree that they were
Edited to correct agency to county
@@lijohnyoutube101 Not their agency, the county. Their agency was aware of their UA-cam before this.
yeah but what does that have to do with the nickname?
@@mery5989 someone made an allegation to the county that they were not doing enough to protect the identify of the children in their care. As a result, they have made some changes, including no longer showing the children (even with their faces blurred) and I'm assuming the discontinuation of the nicknames is related to that.
@@mery5989 it might be because they were saying the gender and the ages of the children ? I could imagine perhaps if the children's names all started with a B it would be difficult to protect their identity from those in the area who might know the family. ( i know that isn't the case but who knows).
Hi! I think you can see the boys name on the wall? If so check it out so you dont get inte troubble for it!
It’s her child’s name
Hey idk if u noticed this but you showed the boys name sign David
it's Sawyer's middle name
@@ciarag418 ahh ok that's good thanks
I think you might have had an oopsie in the boys room 😳
Sawyer's name is Sawyer David.
Are you not allowed to use nicknames anymore?
Hi😃🖐️
Hey💜💓🥀🥀
The fact that you now have to redo videos is absolutely ridiculous! I really don’t get why you can’t just blur the kids faces or have them wear masks like other channels do
Be the village
Are you not even allowed to call her little Bee anymore?
We r not allowed to have Foster children sharing with r own children x ❤
Your video seems a bit...fuzzy? blurry? around light, I was wondering if your lens might be dirty?
Love your videos!
Unless that's Sawyer's middle name, you might wanna blur the name near his.
(Not trying to tell yall your business, I just remember that you were just going through a thing about privacy for the kiddos)
Hi
what is your p.o. box i’m going to talk to miss a on instagram in see what she like