*These tips are for those who use therapy to help their children, I am not recommending that all parents take their children to a therapist. In We’re Our Child’s Best Therapist, I wrote about how, well, exactly that, we’re our child’s best therapist. Why? Because we know them best and we are with them…
Read MoreAll articles filed in foster care
baby pics and family trees (adoption/foster)
Cute baby pictures and family trees: two conundrums out of many that can arise in school. What to do… A fellow adoptive parent received the request to submit a photo of her child for the eighth grade yearbook, and here’s her response, which she shared on the Forever-Families Facebook page: Dear Mr. Principal, Ah yes,…
Read Moreavoid holiday hassles
We all know the holiday hoopla is fast approaching. Some of us look forward to it, but for many it brings a mixture of depression and anxiety, filling us until it’s all over and we can say it’s two-thousand-fourteen. No matter where we find ourselves, many of us will be visiting family or friends during…
Read MoreHARD is the BEST thing I’ve ever done
We shared our adoption story (in short) with our church on Orphan Sunday, Well, since this post is all about honesty, I should say, Justin shared and I stood by. I had the easy part. Afterwards, we welcomed questions from anyone interested in fostering or adopting. One of the women who chatted with me, let’s…
Read MoreNBC’s Today Show focuses on adoption
A couple days ago I was watching NBC’s TODAY Show and they had a segment on adoption. This particular broadcast was focusing on an adopted woman finding her birth mother. At first I was excited to see the TODAY Show recognizing adoption, and wondered why they hand’t done so more often because Al Roker is…
Read Morethe lies our children believe (adoption/foster)
It’s difficult to see through the anger, the hate, the attitudes. If our children have created coping mechanisms, it can be almost impossible to see through the smiles, the laughing, and the efforts they make to see us happy. What can’t we see through all of this? The lies our children believe; lies about themselves,…
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 Moreattachment in adoption – the first things we need to know
In Chris Cleave’s novel Little Bee, he writes Little Bee’s thoughts, “Take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means I survived.” This makes me think of our adopted children who struggle with attachment issues because they have scars. A scar also means they’ve been through a traumatic experience.…
Read Morecelebrity adoptions
Nia Vardalos adopted a three-year-old girl from foster care, and has penned the story of her search for a child. The comments on her book release go from praise to criticism. I don’t understand the criticism. She adopted, not only that, but she didn’t take the route that many celebrities take and adopt a newborn.…
Read Morelast one
Jeremiah had his last “goodbye” visit with his bio dad today. T (bio dad) had the visit supervisor relay the following message to Justin: “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.” The strength and love it must have taken for T to say this leaves me astonished and humbled. My heart is saddened by…
Read More
lovin' adoptin' & autism 