At the end of the school year, kids can be brimming with excitement – their thoughts wandering towards summer break as they sign each other’s yearbooks and daydream about their newfound freedom. The assignments and projects and homework has piled on for months, and it’s suddenly gone! For some, there are lots of exciting activities […]
Sometimes our day to day activities can feel like too much. From packing lunches to dropping the kids off at school to arriving at work on time, it often seems as though there isn’t a moment to breathe. But it’s when we have the least amount of time to pause that this pause matters the […]
What is social media? Is your foster child on social media? Social media is defined as a form of electronic communication that allows users to create online communities where information, ideas, personal messages and other forms of content can be shared. Some of the more popular examples of this platform are: Facebook Instagram Snapchat Twitter […]
It’s back-to-school season again, and by now, you’ve probably gotten the required supplies lists or seen the ads all over television and in your browser. As a foster parent, though, it can be extra tough to find the money to help the children in your care. To make matters worse, all the preparation in the […]
Explaining to your family and friends what foster care is and why you want to open your home to a child can be both challenging and intimidating. You’re never sure how open they’ll be to your plan, what kind of support they’ll offer or what “horror story” they’ll tell you from someone they know who […]
If anyone knows about the ups and downs of fostering, it’s Brian Blythe and John Kristiansen. Adoptive fathers to four little girls, these men have learned a few lessons on their way to Adoption Day. We recently caught up with them to learn about their transition from ordinary joes to foster care superheroes. After meeting […]
As an organization, embrella talks a lot about what fostering can be like. But the best source of information on the realities of foster care is real foster parents – so we’ve collected some quotes from foster parents around New Jersey about what fostering has been like for them. See what happens when foster parents […]
School can be stressful for any child between homework, tests and making friends, but for foster children it can be particularly difficult. Along with facing the typical challenges of the school year, your foster daughter must do so while coping with her past and possibly worrying about her future. This additional burden can shift her […]
Trying to understand what a child is thinking can be difficult. Without the ability to express themselves, or if past trauma has affected their ability to do so, handling grief and trauma can become a major obstacle for foster parents. Whether it’s attachment issues, stubbornness, or acting out, behaviors you experience with foster children may […]
Although we’ve discussed it briefly in our blog “Top 5 embrella Services You Aren’t Taking Advantage Of (But Totally Should!)”, the Heart to Heart Mentoring Program from embrella is so valuable that we decided you should take a closer look. At first, it might seem intimidating to be matched up with another foster parent but […]