Preparing for Foster Kids: Technical Safety Precautions & General Household To Do List

06/02/2011

Here’s the part of preparing our home for foster kids that’s not as much fun to talk about or photograph as designing the bedroom. We have a checklist of things that need to be done in our home before an inspection. These requirements differ from state to state and agency to agency, I’m sure, but here are some of the things we had to buy/do:

• outlet covers on all of our electrical outlets
• cleaning supplies and chemicals stored in a locked cabinet
• all medications (including vitamins) stored in a locked box
• smoke detectors in various locations throughout the house
• carbon monoxide detector installed
• minimum 2.5 lb. fire extinguisher rated for class B and C
• hot water heater set lower than 120 degrees
• matches and knives inaccessible to children
• landline telephone available (we decided to sign up for Vonage for $15/month)
• flashlights in working order and accessible (we got a nightlight/emergency light/ flashlight)
• bedroom for child with proper clothing storage
• bedroom for child has a window
• separate bed and mattress for each child
• infant crib in compliance with government safety standards
• area rugs secured to floors; mirrors and wall hangings secured to walls
• internet adult sites inaccessible to children (we use Safe Eyes to block these sites)
• pets are up to date on all required vaccinations
• automobiles in safe operating condition
• vehicles equipped with child safety seats for infants/young children and booster seats for older children

So that’s only about half of the list, but it covers most of the main requirements. I was looking for this information online out of curiosity before we started the process so maybe someone else out there will benefit from seeing our list. We added to this list our personal list of projects to get done around the house before we welcome foster kids into our home:

• buy furniture (crib, bed, dresser, rugs) for the kids room
• hang book ledges (pictured above—I did this all myself! I’m very proud.)
• decorate kids room
• paint the kids room
• paint the rest of the house… or at least the master bedroom, living room, kitchen and hallway
• finish the fence blog post coming soon!
• close up all the gaps along the bottom of the fence so Lucy can’t wander away
• remove the dangerously sharp fireplace hearth  Booyah!
• get the electricity fixed in 2/3 of the house (this is a new development as of yesterday … stupid old wiring! Right now have 4.5 rooms without electricity … the kids room, my cloffice, both bathrooms and the ceiling light in the kitchen.)
• get a new vehicle – The Silver Bullet. Yay!
• build a new patio table we got a great deal on an already built one
• finish drywall and trim in Jason’s studio aux room
• finish drywall and paint in the laundry room
• clean out studio aux room and closet
• clean out our bedroom closet and dresser and give clothes to charity
• clean out cupboards
• clean and organize pantry

Ok, so most of the things on our personal list have nothing to do with preparing our house for kids EXCEPT that we want to have all of these things checked off our to do list so that once we have kids we can just relax and have fun in the evenings and on the weekends. Sounds like a nice dream, right?

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Posted by mahlbrandt

Summer Days (Daze?)

06/01/2011

It’s been a busy past few days and I don’t have time to write any of the posts I have in my mind to write. For now, here’s a picture of where Jason and I have been eating a lot of our meals lately:

And an update on recent goings-on:

• We’re 2/3 of the way through our foster parent certification. Paperwork is done. Classes are done. We’re waiting for the home study writer to contact us to set up home study interviews. We’ve been waiting for 2 weeks and it’s been a relief, actually. It kind of feels like the calm before a storm. Not that we’re dreading it but we’re just savoring the (potentially) last few weeks of just the two of us.

• But, of course we’re staying busy! We have the kids room almost all the way finished. There are just a few pieces of art left to hang on the walls. When it’s all done I’ll do a proper photo tour. And we’ve been painting. Now seemed like a good time to paint the rest of the house. So far we have the living room (and the kids room) done. The kitchen, master bedroom and hallway are next in line. The project to do list that’s taped on the wall of our hallway is almost done.

• Our new van has one tire that’s mysteriously worn much more than the other 3. We’ve been planning to replace all 4 tires soon. After an almost-blow-out last night (we have a rubber flapper), now is the time to replace all four. We were hoping we could wait a few months but ack! Oh well.

• Have you heard about the cicada invasion in the middle Tennessee area? It’s a 13-year cycle. I’ll post more about that later in case you’re curious…

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Posted by mahlbrandt

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