Can You Just Sit with Me in This Mess?
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts
Longtime foster parent and foster parent trainer, Kaleo George, opens up about the messiness of foster care.
In opening up about her personal experiences as a foster mom, Kaleo also paints a picture of how to navigate foster parenting in a way that honors both the complexities and families involved — and the beauty that arises when you show up to stand alongside someone in the messiness of life.
Topics covered include:
Placement disruptions
Attachment difficulties
Grief after placements end
Savior complex
Tensions inherent to the foster care system
Relationships with bio parents
We loved our time with Kaleo (she had so many mic drop moments we lost track) and hope you do too!
Featured Guest
Kaleo George | Foster Parent & Foster Parent Trainer
Kaleo with her husband and biological kids.
Kaleo with her tribe including her kid in care and a dear friend who has grown to be family.
Photo credit: Abbie G Meyer Photographer & Creative
Dig Deeper: Kaleo’s Book Recommendations
In this New York Times bestseller, neuropsychiatrist Daniel J. Siegel and parenting expert Tina Payne Bryson offer a revolutionary approach to child rearing with 12 strategies that foster healthy brain development, resulting in calmer and happier children.
The authors of The Whole-Brain Child offer a guide to unlocking a child’s innate capacity for resilience, compassion, and creativity. This book includes skills, scripts, and activities to nurture positive potential and keep children’s inner spark glowing and growing strong.
Photo credits: Amazon
Podcast Library
Podcast Sponsors
Kids Crossing
We’re so thankful for our community of supporters that makes Just As Special possible including our Season 2 sponsor Kids Crossing, a private foster care agency started by foster parents for foster parents.
Arguably the most important decision to make when becoming a foster parent is what agency you’ll choose. Because as a foster parent, you will rely on your foster care agency for support.
Kids Crossing provides many no-cost services including:
Therapy services for the kids
Family therapy
Family preservation services
Foster parent support groups
Parenting coaches
Trauma-informed parenting training
And much more!
Kids Crossing is also committed to diversity and inclusion and has partnered with Just As Special to provide their foster parents with virtual, on-demand training.
This training is focused on helping foster parents practically apply lessons learned from diverse perspectives of foster care through powerful personal interviews with former foster youth; multi-cultural foster families; same-sex foster families; foster care professionals; and much more.
Kids Crossing foster parent Ben said, “Just As Special gives me insight from different people in foster care such as other foster parents or former foster kids. These perspectives have opened up my mind to different ways of thinking, which in turn helped me better understand my foster kiddo.”
Kids Crossing has four locations across Colorado in Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and La Junta.
Learn more at KidsCrossing.com and tell them Just As Special sent you.
Fabulous Homes Colorado
Homebuying can be stressful so it’s important to make sure you are in the right hands.
Christina has called Colorado home for nearly a decade and been running her own realty business for six years. What we’ve noticed most about Christina is that she truly cares about her community — and not just with lip service.
Fabulous Homes Colorado specializes in helping first-time homebuyers and veterans find the right fit for their families — from cute condos to luxury homes. They serve El Paso County, Woodland Park, and Pueblo in beautiful Colorado.
Fabulous Homes Colorado offers:
No pressure homebuying
Video tours so you can buy remotely
Education (help with down payment assistance and more)
If you want a realtor that truly values relationships over transactions, give Christina a call at 719.310.4347 and tell her Just As Special sent you.
Each office is independently owned and operated.
Hope felt like she had way more help than she could use as a foster parent which led her to start thinking about how she could help other families who could benefit from even just one more friend.