They find themselves having to grow up overnight and becoming a parent while their peers are still experiencing their teen years. This is part of being a teen parent. They have so much growing up to do in a short time and so much to learn.

Learning household responsibilities is a very important step in this process. Learning how to cook will be a necessity since they will most likely not have the extra monies for fast food and eating out. Along with cooking comes, food safety (how long to keep food before it ruins, how long to cook things, cleaning and preparing food), shopping while staying on a budget, cleaning, etc. Learning how to do laundry and other household cleaning... more

Our adopted children are new to the state of California. Tonight we had an earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale. The southern half of our state is being ravaged by wildfires. These are new experiences for our kids.

The earthquake hit a little after 8:00 p.m. local time. Our house, built in the 1950’s began to shake, rock and roll. It was a longish earthquake as these things go – I’m a native Californian and I’ve lived through a few to know – and it went through several phases. There was an initial jolt, then shaking, then the house began rolling – a feeling like you were on a surfboard for the first time.

Fortunately, there was no damage to our home or property.... more

I received a pass into the recent Advocate Academy’s webinar on Understanding Assessments: Psychological, Processing and Achievement Evaluation Data given by Alan Brue, Ph.D. Although I missed the live airing of the event, I have been catching up on the course work and hope to give you some insights into how to understand the evaluations school psychologists give our children.

Advocate Academy is the education program of the Advocacy Institute,... more

This is an important concept and an important step in a child’s emotional development. Object permanence is the term used to describe that a person cognitively understands that a thing is still there even when you can’t see it any more.

Jean Piaget was the psychologist that researched this and determined that healthy infants between the ages of 8 to 9 months usually develop this. In other words, when Mom is not where they can see her doesn’t mean that she no longer exists.

Children who have been neglected during those critical developmental stages often... more

“You should just post a sign at the border of your state saying children with special needs aren’t welcomed!” my friend exclaimed after I told her. We received word today that our federal appeal of our debacle of a due process hearing was dismissed and the school district (and state’s) motion was granted that our attorney is supposed to pay THEIR attorney fees.

I’m still wading through the legalese and waiting on a phone call from the attorney, but my understanding is that because we said the court was biased (ruling on things he said he wouldn’t rule on, not ruling on things in the original complaint, sleeping through testimony, etc.) and that they had violated LuLu’s civil rights... more

What is that baby really saying? A lot of frustration seems to be tied up with language - and what they call "language delays" are all too often a part of parenting kids adopted internationally. Toddlers like to be understood - and when son (son!) uses a new word and realizes that we know what he means, his face lights up.

Of course, babies have their own language, and chances are, if you're an average parent adopting from China, you'll be meeting these new kids when they're really quite new indeed, so what you need right away is some kind of baby translator... more

The end of October is nearly on us and November is National Adoption Awareness month. It started out as an awareness month in 1976. Michael Dukakis and Gerald Ford both supported and encouraged the proclamation. In 1990 it was expanded to the entire month of November because so many states were participating in events.

November 17, 2007 is National Adoption Day. Many adoptions will be finalized on that day.

The purpose of all these events is to bring greater awareness to the kids in foster care who need adoptive parents. I blog about some pretty grim things here,... more

I have been writing about ways to prepare emotionally and physically for the arrival of your new child, and then sharing tips on how to make your child's adjustment into your family as smooth as possible.

My tip for this post is to lower your expectations. Cut yourself a break. Make life as easy as you can for yourself. Allow your standards for the things in life that don't... more

While bringing home a new child is usually a much-anticipated event, those early days, weeks and months together are often challenging, as the new child adjusts to life in a new family, and the family gets used to having a new member.

In my next few posts I will offer up some tips for your early days together, and share some things that you can do to promote bonding and attachment and make your adjustment period as easy as possible on parents and children.

Today's tip is to "cocoon".

When your child first comes home, you should cocoon your family as... more

We did not purchase travel insurance when we traveled to Viet Nam to adopt Ella, but Sandra’s post reminded me that it’s something I wanted to look into for this adoption. Honestly, the only reason we didn’t get it last time was because I just could not wrap my head around researching another thing. I was curious about travel insurance and the necessity of it, so I did a little digging and here’s what I found.

Before leaving, travelers should contact their medical insurance companies to see what is (and is not) covered when you’re outside of the country. Also be sure to ask about coverage... more