Sounds like Dan is organising a huge sleepover right? Well he is. Of sorts.

Canberra-based Dan and his wife Marie-Ann are respite foster carers. The pair have provided on-going respite care for many kids, with Dan saying they're approaching nearly double figures.

They started their journey as respite foster carers after seeing information about it on the back of a school newsletter.

"We actually don't call it respite care, do we?" Marie-Ann said to Dan. "It's more a weekend sleepover. The kids come over - we just have a few extra beds, a few extra pillows, a few extra meals - it's just like cousins coming to stay with us. It's nice and easy."

Marie-Ann is a full-time mum and fitness coach, and Dan works in the Federal public service.

So, why do they do it?

It all came about as a result of not being able to have any more children of their own, and after investigating inter-country adoption and discovering it wasn't suitable, they chose to foster.

The pair is often asked how they juggle respite care with work and other home commitments.

"Well, most of our respite care happens on weekends. On Friday night we pick up the kids and Monday morning they head off to school the same time I head off to work, so it usually mixes in nicely with our work," Dan said.

Marie-Ann added, "We've done full-time foster caring as well, and we just managed that in the same way you would manage looking after any other children, like they're your own children. It's just family balance, working and family life."

When asked what it takes to be a great respite carer, Marie-Ann says organisation is key as well as food and enough beds.

"You need to have patience, imagination and a sense of fun, as the kids are coming to you for a break. They're coming for a good time," she said.

Marie-Ann and Dan say they often hear comments that they must be some kind of superheroes to do what they do.

"Foster caring is, I think now, looking inside out, it's a little bit different to how I probably initially thought it was looking outside in. It's just like extending the family temporarily.

"We do the same things, it's all about food, it's all about sleep, it's all about getting them prepared for bed with the showers and the teeth and all that sort of thing," Dan said.

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The pair don't deny that some changes have to happen - like having a fridge full of food all the time, and juggling cars. And then there's the issue of attachment.

"I do get very attached. I really care about them, but I know exactly what my role is, and I know that because of the training that we've received," Marie-Ann said.

"Particularly in a respite environment, because it's so much fun, it's short-term, it's really quick. You've given them the fun that they need, the break that they need, and then you send them back to where they normally stay."

This then begs the question, can respite carers really make a difference when kids are not with them all the time?

Respite carers are also giving carers who normally look after the day to day grind a break from that full-time foster caring role. Everybody ends up being refreshed at the end of the weekend.

Sometimes respite care can lead to longer term care. Marie-Ann says they've been fortunate to have had some children that they've looked after for respite on a long-term basis over a number of years.

"We've had that continuity of care over the years, we've got to know them," she says. "We know their characteristics, we know how they mix with our family.

"That's the thing about respite care, too, if you do gel then it's possible to do that long-term respite arrangement."

Dan and Marie-Ann have even added to their family permanently as a result of offering respite foster care. They are now the proud adoptive parents of a child who they started fostering as a young baby.

For more details on becoming a foster carer, contact ACT Together on 1300 WE FOSTER or see acttogether.org.au