Etiquette with FC during intros?

Congratulations.

You should get an intro plan so you will know what to plan for.and what meals you will have with the children. I only had one meal at FC, tea on day 3, I was there for simbas breakfast on day 4 but had already had mine at the hotel. Other days I took Simba out for lunches and dinners and I i paid for them.

Have fun!

It will differ from person to person to be honest.
with the babies I have moved on it is always made clear during the planning meeting when meals are to be shared with fc. Personally I could not easily sit and eat a meal knowing I have people in the house who I are not eating with me, its just rude, so I always invite prospective adopters to share any meal that they are sharing with a child and therefore me, becoz I eat meals with my children. With teenys who are not yet weaned parents will share meal times with me if they are in the house over meal times.
so far all but one family have shared meals with me. One famiky refused, didnt want to 'put me out'. But it did put me out becoz the meals had been planned with them in mind and it also made me extremely uncomfortable to eat while they were not and was therefore unable to eat myself.
so moral of story, aks at planning meeting if not brought up, if invited (and in my home its more a condition than an invite!  ) then please do not throw it back in fcs face, if not invited then apologies from me on the poor manners and lack of hospitality of your fc. Hopefully you will be welcomed in the home like any other guest though.
on the question of who pays then its the fc. I am always offered, tho never take it, expenses to cover meal costs if i want it. Hope all goes well.

My intro plan clearly showed one breakfast and one evening meal with the foster family but I wasn't offered either and it was made clear I wasn't welcome :-( the evening meal in particular was a killer because I was supposed to be putting Starlet to bed, which I really wanted to do, but they clearly weren't going to eat (or let Starlet eat!) while I was there so I had to leave. Starlet was starving and kept asking to be fed, but they just kept saying later (I gave up about 8 when it became clear I wasn't going to be allowed to do bedtime). I hadn't made other arrangements for food so had to go for a takeaway before going back to my cottage and eating after 9!

So I would say go with the flow and see what happens... But be prepared!

I agree with LOBs - I expect new parents to eat with us too, and will have spent time planning what to feed everyone. I think it's also important for the child that you eat with them.

It should be specified in your intro's plan Ruby, but otherwise I'm sure FC won't mind you checking.

Good luck!


ps - just seen your idea re offering to cook which could be a great idea with a 6 year old, it's something you could do together? My last 6 year old loved cooking with me. 

We ate supper with the children at the foster carers home on one evening, but the fcs didn't eat with us.
Nice to be fed, but it did feel strange! In my own family, everyone who is home, eats together.
We didn't contribute to the food shop.

In retrospect, it would have been very helpful just to have had a quiet phone conversation with the foster carers after the planning meeting, to talk through the plan from their point of view. They would not have minded, and we'd have dealt as ordinary people rather than people with social workers watching. (Hope that makes sense.) I think we just thought we were not supposed to be a nuisance. We'd have been less of a nuisance if we'd know the fcs better.