Something about negative behavior struck me when I read the fourth part in the Reuter’s series The Child Exchange. (You can read my opinion on The Child Exchange – aka adoption disruption here.) The Reuters investigation shares the devastating story of Anna Barnes, a girl who was born in Russia, orphaned (although she didn’t know…
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Supporting adoptive and foster families and families living with autism.
just deal with it (feelings: part 4) – (adoption/foster)
Were you raised by a parent who told you to “just deal with it?” Were you taught to ignore your feelings or that they weren’t important? If we tell our hurting children to just deal with it without giving them a listening ear, and tools for how to handle their feelings, it won’t help your child…
Read Morerehoming: a Reuters investigation (shared by NBC news) (adoption)
The new catchphrase on an older concept: rehoming. Some in the adoption community call it adoption dissolution or disruption. You may have heard about the Reuters investigation “The Child Exchange,” and NBC, which began broadcasting the reports on Monday morning about this issue. Reuter’s series focuses on families who feel they can no longer care…
Read Morebe available (feelings: part 3) – (adoption)
In part two of this series, I talked about labeling your child’s feelings so they can begin to put together what’s happening inside them, both physical feelings: hunger and sickness; and the feelings such as jealousy and disappointment. Today we are taking the next step, which is talking about those feelings. We can’t define a feeling…
Read Morename those feelings (feelings: part 2) – (adoption)
I am well into adulthood and frankly I still have trouble labeling how I’m feeling when things aren’t quite right. Anyone with me on this? I feel that if you haven’t been in psychotherapy on a weekly basis, you might have difficulty nailing what exactly it is that’s making you so gloomy. Our kids who came…
Read Moreemotional balance begins with us (feelings: part 1) – (adoption/foster)
Some of you see the title of this post and scoff, “Well, that’s never going to happen, I guess there’s no hope for me.” Others see it and say, “Of course, that’s why I’m so calm.” And yet others fall in the middle, and I am one of them, or I hope I am. I…
Read Moreadoption and stranger danger
How do we teach our kids about stranger danger without completely scaring them out of their mind? Or do we throw all caution to the wind and tell them the whole gory story about why we don’t want them talking to the guy down the street? Stranger danger, as we all know, is REAL, but…
Read Morestudy your child (adoption/foster)
Now that school has begun for your kids, it’s time to do your homework. No worries, it’s pretty simple, and it will pay great dividends in the end. So what’s the assignment? Study your child. Always be aware of your child and their reactions to the world around them. What situations make your child wary? What…
Read Moreit’s your fault mom (adoption/foster)
I apologize in advance to any fathers who are visiting today. This post is about mothers, but feel free to keep reading. It came out of nowhere, Payton hit me. She was one-year-old, and it was the first time she’d done anything like it. What caused her to lash out at me? I was about…
Read Morewhat happens when our hurting children can’t sleep (adoption/foster)
If you follow my blog, you have seen mention of sleep a couple times in the past month. Is this because sleep falls into my TOP 5 favorite things to do? Maybe. 😉 Well it’s really because sleep is important. As I’ve previously written about (you can find links at the bottom of this post),…
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lovin' adoptin' & autism 