You cannot seem to explain to my middle daughter Cierra how to properly treat our pet puppy Bayleigh. I have been over and over this with her till I am blue in the face yet she persists with getting down on all fours and screaming in the dogs face, chasing her at full speed around the house and cornering her and holding her down. Needless to say this is not enjoyed too much by the dog. Today Bayleigh bit and scratched Cierra. . . Again. This is the third time she has been bit (not breaking the skin but definitely leaving marks). No one else in our family... more

New Mexico New Mexico ETV Program

You may be eligible for funding of up to $5000 per year while you are in college or a vocational or technical training program!

You may qualify if:

You are 18, 19 or 20 years old. You are in foster care or you were in foster care as a teenager and you are a US citizen or qualified non-citizen You aged out of the foster care system at age 18 or were adopted from foster care with adoption finalization after your 16th birthday. You have been accepted into or are enrolled in a degree, certificate or other program at a college, university, technical or vocational school and you... more

Oklahoma ETV Program

You may be eligible for funding of up to $5000 per year while you are in college or a vocational or technical training program! You may qualify if:

You are 18, 19 or 20 years old. You are in foster care or you were in foster care as a teenager and you are a US citizen or qualified non-citizen You aged out of the foster care system at age 18 or were adopted from foster care with adoption finalization after your 16th birthday. You have been accepted into or are enrolled in a degree, certificate or other program at a college, university, technical or vocational school and you show progress towards that... more

Everyone who adopts hopes that their family and friends will be positive and supportive but unfortunately that is not always what ends up happening. There are all too often people around us who have little or limited understanding of adoption and it’s unique challenges and they always seem to be very vocal about it to the new parents.

In my own personal experience some of the comments from perhaps (ok giving the benefit of the doubt here) well meaning but not especially well informed people have included the following and ok the blurps that follow... more

It seems that defending the integrity of Guatemalan adoptions is going to be a challenging aspect of being the parent of a Guatemalan born child. My mother was the first person to question me about the adoption process while I was waiting for Ella to come home. She opened her newspaper one morning to a scathing article about the corruption surrounding Guatemalan adoptions, and wanted to know if I knew about this.

I took a deep breath and told her that yes, there were unethical agencies and lawyers, but that was not the... more

Continued......

I have to believe that I will know when the time is right and when my daughter can deal with the horrible facts that she will face. So, I cannot say I will give her the information when she turns 18 years old; she needs to be grounded with herself and in life to deal with the facts.

Even if adoptees are faced with dark secrets or horrible facts concerning their past, or how they came to be, they still have the right to know of their past. No one has the right, to decide what is best for someone else.

The big thing for adoptees in their search for information is not to go in expecting a happy story, go expecting to hear some difficult things. This... more

Continued.......

It is possible to, as they say open “Pandora’s Box” and things are not what you hoped for and imagined. It also could turn out to be a truly wonderful experience and one where you build a lasting relationship with your birth parents.

My daughter and son that we adopted through foster care came with a file about five inches thick. It starts when CPS came into the picture, ends at their adoption and also has birth family information that is provided to the adoptive parents. My daughter’s facts in the file are very different than her brother’s. For me to read about the past especially my daughter’s was at times more than I could bare, I would have to put... more

Do adoptees have the right to information about their adoption? What if you are an adoptee born in the time when birth mothers where promised, her identity would be protected? What if people know that the information about your past can be very painful for you?

Adoptees have the right to their information just as anyone else does. It is easier to process being adopted when you have an ideal of the beginning of your life. It should not be up to the court system, adoption agencies, or anyone else to decide if it is right for an adoptee to receive information about their adoption and birth parents. Yes, there was a time that it was believed that it would be best for everyone involved... more

A few weeks ago, my two little cousins came over to spend the night with Gracie and me to celebrate the Chinese New Year together. My mother found this poem of an anonymous writer that describes a toddler’s perspective. I could not help but to be reminded of my little cousins and Gracie when I read this poem for the first time. I am sure if you are the older sibling to a toddler brother or sister then you should be able to identify with this.

Toddler Rules of Property If I like it, it... more

While I was away on a youth trip to Schroon Lake, New York for three days Gracie missed me. My mom said she looked at my picture and asked “Where Sissy”? Mom said Gracie would call out “Sissy, Sissy”? and my mom would tell Gracie that I was away and that I was going to be back home in two days or tomorrow or whatever time frame was left on me returning. The thing I thought was most special is she wanted to sleep in my room each night I was away to help her feel like she was close to me even when I was hundreds of miles away from her.

Another... more