My friends adopted a sibling group of five children many years ago. I have a special connection with this adoptive family because we parented two of their children. You see the siblings were split into two foster homes the first two times they came into foster care. These children really look like siblings probably because each has the same two birth parents, uncommon in foster care from my experience. Therefore, one might assume that their needs and goals might be similar. However, each child’s needs are very different.

One... more

Today I was one overwhelmed momma!

My son went to his first day of preschool today, and I found myself walking around in a daze, alone, and wondering what happened to my baby boy. How could it even be possible that this morning I walked out of school, and all three of my children were now officially students? I might have believed that I was well prepared, but frankly it hit me like a freight train.

Of course none of my children ever had a moment of hesitation when that first day of school came. They did not cling... more

I’m lacing up my walking shoes and getting ready to do a 5K walk in less than two weeks. Guess I better get some exercise before then.

The Jockey Being Family Walk is being held to raise funds for Adoption Resources of Wisconsin,which I love. I don’t remember how I first got involved with them. I probably called for post adoption resources, or saw them at an adoption conference.

Jockey has been a supporter of Adoption Resources... more

Viet Nam Adoptive Family Interviews : An Introduction

Can you talk about how your parent-child bond formed/changed from the time you first met until today?

The Engelbrecht Family - Sienna was very easy to bond with. She formed bond before we left Viet Nam and she has just deepened those. She 'checks in' a lot and looks for support now.

Christina - When I first met Zeeb, I thought... more

I have been writing about the things I have learned in the "Because They Waited" adoptive parenting course. In the beginning of the course they state that adoptive parents have a responsibility to share good adoptive parenting information with other adoptive parents, so I hope that some of you will find some useful information in these posts.

The fourth and final topic that was included in the testing portion of the course was titled, "What DO You Need to Know About Attachment?"

This topic started off by giving some definitions.... more

My adopted stepson had a wonderful first day of tenth grade yesterday! He was frustrated by the fact that in each and every class they went over the rules of the school, which means they were drilled into his head seven times yesterday, but other than that, his day went well. So far he has a good feeling about all of his teachers, and is coming to terms with the fact that his least favorite subject, English, is his first period of the day. We have told him that at least he can get it out of the way early on in the day, and not have to stress about it all day long, and that seems to have helped him to get over the initial pang of dread that he was feeling towards having English first thing... more

Viet Nam Adoptive Family Interviews : An Introduction

If your child bonded quickly to one parent over the other (in a two parent home,) how did you encourage bonding with the other parent?

Christina - Zeeb bonded more easily to my husband, I think maybe because he had been so attached to his foster mother and sister. Also my husband didn’t get as stressed by things and I think Zeeb sensed that. Once we... more

I usually don’t really care what celebrities do with their time, but this series of news articles caught my attention for several reasons.

Obviously, someone being investigated for child abuse is going to catch my eye, and her being a celebrity makes you take notice even more, which is what newspapers count on. However, when I read the various news reports... more

In yesterday’s post, I discussed that there are some members of the adoption triad who wear more than one adoption “hat” meaning that they hold more than one position in the triad. Thus far, I have shared the story of Lisa, who is a birthmother and an adoptee.

Today, in continuing with this short series of discussing triad members who have more that one “position” in the adoption triad, I’ll share with you the story of a second woman. Let me introduce you to... more

Not long ago I received an email from a reader wanting information about adoption supervisors. Given the adoption climate in Guatemala right now, this might be a good time to talk a bit about this service available to adopting parents.

The key question is when do you need to hire adoption supervisors? I would say that when communication has broken down between you and your agency and you cannot get information on the status of your case, and /or your lawyer is not doing his/her job and not moving your case along at a reasonable pace, you might... more