In the wee hours of the morning, while others were fast asleep in their beds, police in Tarrant County, Texas were getting ready for a hunt. They were on the prowl for the areas worst child support offenders, and while some were able to elude capture and arrest, many were not, and police were able to round up thirty six deadbeat dads and haul them off for failure to pay child support.

This particular precinct has collected roughly four million dollars during this year alone in ... more

First I want to say thank you to everyone who participated in my giveaway for National Adoption Month. There were such a wonderful array of responses given to my question of "what does adoption mean to you?"

The variety in the answers validates the point that I made, that your own personal experiences with adoption and the role that you have played or hope to play in an adoption will leave you with your own, very personal definition of what adoption is.

At... more

One of the other intriguing comments on my blog about our children’s privacy was from “Scraps” who said:

When I was growing up we knew of a few foster/adoptive families. They were always "a little weird", and provided much fodder for judgmental conversation. As a child, I was unaware how unkind and ignorant those conversations were. Now I have no doubt that we are the "weird family" who provides plenty of gossip fodder.

Yep…me... more

I’m on my way to Minnesota this morning to spend the weekend with Stephanie. Her 21st birthday is December 4th. My hubby will be managing things at home, which includes therapy for Dora today and Beth’s Division II Championship swim meet both days this weekend. I hate to miss the meet, but I want to spend the weekend with Steph and I have yet to figure out how to be two places at once.

I can’t believe it has been 21 years since Steph made her appearance. My birthday is three weeks after hers … I was almost 30 when she was born. Not too hard to do the math, is... more

I posted a few days ago some of my thoughts on protecting LuLu’s (and the other children’s) privacy vs. sharing our story/struggles. And one of the most wonderful things about adoptionblogs.com is that readers give me even more food for thought. So, I’m still thinking…

Nancy Deren gave some great input on the “person first” movement.

I've seen that language does have an impact on how people are treated. Using negative language reinforces subconscious... more

If you have adopted children, who were older than newborns at the time of the adoption, then your children have been seriously hurt by the actions or words of another. Why not make a point this holiday season to talk to your adopted children about forgiveness. Certainly, the wounds left behind by abuse, neglect, or abandonment can leave lasting feelings of anger, bitterness, and the desire to retaliate someday. Many times adopted children repress or deny their feelings of bitterness or anger. Perhaps discussing how you have been hurt, how it made you feel, and how you felt... more

Back at the beginning of National Adoption Month, I started thinking about and writing about what adoption is to me.

So far I have said that adoption is a business, expensive, hope, life changing, love, complicated,... more

It’s the final day of National Adoption Awareness Month. I hope you have enjoyed my blogs on this topic and took part in some of the ideas for adoption awareness. It was fun to write about them.

For a final event to celebrate the month, have a family picture taken. You can choose to have a formal portrait done, or have some fun.

Most people are getting ready to send out their holiday cards soon. Some people are really on the ball and already have them out. I’m lucky to get them out before the end of the year. You can include one of these pictures in... more

We had some discussion going on my post, Adopted Child and "Not My Real Mom" Comments, about my son using the term "real mom" when he is referring to his birthmother. I have chosen to let him call her whatever he wants. I refer to her as his birthmother, and I am not taking offense when he calls her his "real mom" because I know he does not mean it as a slight to me. He is just a little kid, and having "two moms" is a big concept to grasp.

However,... more

It is normal to feel a certain amount of anxiety after you are offered a referral of a child or a match with an expecting mother. You do not have to accept a referral or match right away. In fact, our agency told me to talk the situation over with my husband, sleep on the decision, and then let them know if we wanted to match with this expecting mother. Our agency was straightforward about the challenges of our situation, the biggest being the expecting mother's smoking throughout her pregnancy. The director wanted us to make an informed decision before agreeing to adopt... more