A 5-year-old moves in with new foster parents. This is what happens in the first month
A 5-year-old moves in with new foster parents. This is what happens in the first month.
When *Isaac, five, arrived at Natalie Ong and Matthew Chia’s doorstep, he was not afraid or shy. Instead, he said he would go cycling. (*Name changed to protect identity.)
“There’s a first for everything, so we didn’t know what to expect,” said Chia, 37.
The first-time foster parents find themselves more active outdoors. They also used to sleep late but now go to bed by 10pm to give Isaac a more predictable routine.
Ong, 34, had to get used to Isaac’s extraversion. At first, his chatty nature drained her social battery until she had “no energy to talk to anybody”.
There are plans to eventually reunite Isaac with his birth family. But this depends on when they can adequately address child safety concerns and related risks.
