A day in the life of Brooke and Brodie
Take a look at what life looks like for Brooke and Brodie who are currently caring for their child with additional support needs and 2 foster children.
How do your mornings usually start?
Our mornings start with Mr (3) enthusiastically leading breakfast prep at 6 am, followed by loud “GOOD MORNING!” greetings to our cavoodle, waking Mr (11) and Miss (5). Chaos quickly takes over as we pack lunches, style hair, and brush teeth before racing out the door by 7:50 am for three school drop-offs—a daily feat that feels like an Olympic event.
Tea or Coffee?
Brooke: Twinings English Breakfast tea—absolute fav
Brodie: Coffee, any form! As long as it’s strong…
What is the first cereal or spread to run out in your household?
Honey Cheerios
What takes up most of your day?
In addition to our morning routine, we coordinate NDIS therapy plans for two children, managing occupational therapy, physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, speech therapy, and psychology appointments. This requires advocacy, planning, and consistency to support their development. As business directors, we balance professional responsibilities with complex care needs, relying on strong organisation, time management, and adaptability to meet these demands.
You leave the house, and a child has forgotten something. What’s it most likely to be?
School bag or AAC Device (talking device), both warranting us to return home to collect items.
Do you head to any outside-school activities?
Swimming, dancing, basketball and community cultural days.
What is your least favourite type of homework?
Supporting a child with homework about family structures can be challenging. We use it as an opportunity to discuss family diversity, emphasising that all families are valid. This helps the child feel safe, understood, and reassured about their experience.
What is your evening routine like?
Our afternoons are carefully structured to support each child, especially Miss (5), who has complex emotional needs. After school pickups and appointments, we unpack bags, talk about their day, and complete homework with snacks. Evenings start at 4:30 pm with Mr (11)’s care, while the younger children play. We share dinner and prayer at 5:45 pm, followed by a wind-down routine. After the kids are in bed by 7:30 pm, I manage appointments, schedules, and responsibilities with my husband.
What’s your favourite thing to do when you have free time?
Spending some quality time with our additional support needs son which includes visiting the beach, going for breakfast or going bowling. We get to do this when Brooke’s mum (who has also become a foster carer) takes the kids for a few hours.
What’s the children’s current favourite show to watch?
- Mr 11 loves David Attenborough
- Miss 5 loves Kpop Demon Hunters
- Mr 3 Karate sheep
What are the children’s greatest strengths or skills?
- Mr (11) radiates infectious energy, kindness, and resilience.
- Miss (5), our spirited wild card, is strong, independent, nurturing, and a true go-getter.
- Mr (3), is creative, inclusive, a natural leader, and can communicate using Auslan.
What are some of the ways you keep the children connected to family or culture?
We prioritise maintaining strong connections between the children, their family, and culture, recognising this as vital to their identity and belonging. As Aunty and Uncle, we respect their parents’ significant roles, supporting regular contact through calls, visits, and visible family photos. Celebrations like Mother’s Day, NAIDOC, and birthdays include parents as part of our extended family. As a First Nations woman, I ensure the children connect with their cultural heritage and feel a sense of pride and belonging.
If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?
If I could have one superpower as a foster carer, it would be the ability to heal wounds.
Not the kind you can see—but the ones carried quietly. Trauma, the hurt, the confusion around who they are, the fear of trusting again, the grief that sits behind big behaviours.
If you could have 3 wishes for your children in care, what would they be?
- A sense of safety and belonging—no matter where life takes them, they always feel secure and valued.
- Strong identity and connection to who they are—they grow up knowing as much as they want to know. Never confused about where they fit or who they belong to.
- Healing and having a chance to dream—whatever they have been through doesn’t define their future—they carry strength, confidence, hope, and honestly believe they can become anything they dream of.
How would you sum up being a foster carer in one word or sentence?
Being a foster carer is a privilege—opening your heart and home to children in their hardest moments will change your perspective of what really matters in this world.
If you could say one thing to encourage other people to become a carer like you, what would it be?
Becoming a carer can feel overwhelming, but you’re more capable than you think. We began in 2014, pausing for our journey as additional needs parents, and resumed four years ago. With the right support, it’s possible and deeply meaningful. Love, patience, and showing up are what children need most.
Name one thing (or more) a child in your care has specifically thanked you for.
We have made 106 beds within the last four years, emergency placement, short term placement, respite care etc. However, one young person really speaks volumes for my husband and me. They had been in care their whole life, they eventually aged out. We travelled to catch up with this young person and cheer them on when they started renting their first unit and gained their first full time job. This young person still texts me for advice on moving furniture around or how their cousins are doing (non-biological, culturally appropriate to call our three children their cousins). They thanked us for continuing to be there to support them, even though they have their own life now, they know they can still count on us if they ever need anything.
Why do you do it (fostering)?
Foster care is deeply personal to me as a third-generation carer. My grandfather, a proud indigenous man and part of the Stolen Generation, taught me the power of love and purpose in a child’s life. His words have guided our journey as carers and parents.
Before fostering, we often cared for children from school, our community, or friends of our son, sometimes for months, while their families got back on their feet. Becoming foster carers felt natural. As a First Nations family, we’re committed to providing a safe, loving home for children, especially First Nations kids, while helping them maintain cultural and family connections. Love, patience, and purpose are what these children need most.