All you can do is put them on the best track in life, give them that little lift they need

THOMAS and his wife got involved in fostering in 2011.

Thomas had been inspired to foster by an aunt of his who adopted and fostered children.

He and his wife already had a 10-year old adopted child and could have adopted another child from overseas but felt it was more rewarding to foster.

They first fostered a three year old in December, a Christmas Thomas will never forget.

“She watched the Christmas lights on our tree outside and since then every Christmas time she puts the star on top of the Christmas tree,” said Thomas.

Exactly four Christmases later, that child’s sibling came to them when she was just two days old.

“They hold hands and look after each other, play and fight together like other kids, it’s brilliant,” he said.

“You have to look at this little child. Their little head is like a washing machine, thinking ‘where do I fit in?’ What we have to do is tell them ‘ this is your place, wherever you feel comfortable,” he said.

“We’re only there to show them the best path, the way we were brought up. You get more out of it. You should see some of the poems they write, that’s their way of expressing themselves,” he said.

Thomas would “highly recommend” fostering to anyone.

“The best thing you could ever give in life is to give someone that little lift they need.

“I’ ll look back at this in forty years time and if I only had a child for two days or a weekend, if you can put into that little child’s head, ‘I remember that time with that person and I got ice-cream or I was brought to the beach’...that’s why I like doing it. I get more out of it than I can ever put in,” said Thomas.

Like any parents, the couple worry about their children’s future but don’t let their fears overtake them.

“All you can do is put them on the best track in life and hope that things work out. And if they don’t work out, that you’re there to help them.

“My father is 75 years old and my mother is 72 and you’re still caught by the ear when you call - they’re always your parents and they worry about you more now than when you were sitting in the cot.

“These three people here,” he said, gesturing to Arthur, Pamela and Margaret, “are second to none.”

“There’s great support around us,” he said referring to Tusla.

But Thomas said it’s also important to have support from your wider family when fostering.

“When you go out to visit your own brothers and sisters it’s important that they know exactly what’s going on. It’s great when they all visit us together,” he said.

“That’s what makes it. That child is the exact same with my parents as any other grandchild and are part of my family.

“The most important thing is when they have their little problems or worries you’re there to pick them up,” he said.

“Come half five, we all sit down to dinner together. It’s a great way to bond,” he added.