Sibling group placement / many children in the house!

[bottersnike]

Our gorgeous LO will be moving on next month, and so we have been thinking (prompted by SW) about whether we would like our next placement to be the same age etc.
We have the space for a sibling placement (2), plus we have two children of our own, who are 6 and 9, so we are probably looking at pre-school / reception age.
Those of you who have similar numbers of children in your house, either fostered or a combination of birth/foster children, can you give us any tips?
From a practical point of view, I know our food bill would be enormous, so any suggestions for keeping this reasonable are particularly welcome!
How do you think / how have you found that a sibling group would integrate with our/your children? I realise this is a very broad question, so any experiences that you can share would be very helpful.

Thank you :)

We have a large family with 4 adopted children and currently 3 foster children. The older ones are a great help with playing and keeping an eye on the little ones - without that I don't think I would ever get anything done.

Being organised is the key - something which does not naturally come easily to me. But I know a day off from laundry means a mile high pile the next day, that can take a few more days to clear. Our food bills are enormous, though I cook from scratch and try to limit going to once a week (a trip to Tescos for some milk or bread can easily mean I spend an extra £50 a week). The way food is packaged is not for the larger family - nor are ovens - it took me some time to realise I had to buy large quantities of every item so it would feed us all. I am always looking for ways to economise on shopping - approved foods are so good for treats - and every big shop always includes something to put away for Christmas. One self imposed rule is to make time for a one to one chat with every child every day. Always making the time to hear about their day is vital.

It's hard, it's tiring, it's stressful but the benefits outweigh that a million fold. No one is ever bored or lonely in this house!.

Best wishes whatever you decide.

Wow, cornishsue, that is a busy household! Hats off to you!
Even though we cook quite a lot from scratch already, I'm starting to think that our little freezer might not be big enough, and that we might have to replace our washer/dryer with a large capacity washing machine!

Can I ask what the age gap is between your adopted children and foster children?

no idea re the fostering thing but i have 5 from 12 down to 18mths and yes the key is to be organised so everything ready for school the night before etc, there are some good threads in larger families for tips on being organised, food organising etc and yes a big washing machine is good, we have a 9kg one so i can get away with only one load a day most days depsite having 5 children, 4 of whom are messy boys and a toddler dd who is being a toddler messy!

good luck i think you are doing an amazing thing, my dp works in child protection so i know what a good job good foster carers can do :)

bottersnike, it's a good idea to get a larger freezer and washing machine - infact nothing can be too big!! I don't think I could survive without a tumble drier, which in turn cuts down on ironing. Of course if you become a family of 6, rather than a family of 5, your vehicle need to be considered - always a huge expense!

But although obviously harder work and expensive, there are many advantages to having a sibling group. Also as you have 2 children of your own, in many ways 4 children are easier than 3 when there is often one left out. I have found intergration easier with a sibling group, they are not alone (obviously) and less nervous.

There are 5 years between our youngest adopted and eldest fostered child. I do both permanent and respite fostering, and my experience tells me you are likely to be asked to take any ages/sexes/sibling groups of children regardless of what you were passed for.

If YOU find any tips to decrease the food bill, please let me know. LOL!