For a bit of a giggle for older adoptive parents who have grown kids as well, this story may provoke a chuckle or two.

All about young-ish moms hoping for grandma to help out, and how many grandma's are too busy doing their own thing ... raising children in our case ... to pitch in as some of our kids think we should.

Starting off with a "general image of what a good granny is: apple-cheeked with a bursting biscuit tin and oodles of time to spend with her precious grandchildren", it's a tale of disappointment for some that follows.

Sadie... more

I have been thinking about creating a morning ritual for starting the day off right with my adopted children for quite a while now, but just haven’t done it. With older adopted special needs children you never quite know how they are going to act each day. Because we homeschool it is particularly important to me what their attitudes are like each day. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a special morning routine that sort of set things off on the right foot every morning? I knew a family that had adopted six children. Every morning she sat out on the porch with them talking quietly and... more

Tics are involuntary movements that can only be suppressed for a short time with considerable effort. They are not rhythmic; they are rapid, purposeless, and repetitive, movements that are nearly identical to one another. Tics may be simple such as excessive blinking, grimacing, or head jerking and may have begun from nervous habits. Tics may also be complex, as those in Tourette's syndrome, and may resemble fragments of normal behavior.

Many simple tics begin in childhood and disappear without treatment.... more

When my husband and I went through the adoption process, we had to sign a paper stating that we understood that our adopted child was not "warranted" to be healthy for the rest of his life. Of course, the terminology used was less blunt, but that was the basic gist. The social worker also talked to us about this issue face-to-face, stating that while the adoption agency was responsible for accurately representing the health of the child at the time of placement, the agency could not guarantee that health issues would not arise later. The social worker even provided an example... more

I am a big fan of the book, Parenting with Love and Logic, by Foster Cline and Jim Fay. The theory behind the book is that we need to enable our children to think for themselves. Children learn responsibility as they are given the freedom to fail and then later succeed. I also like some of Dr. Phil's advice about helping children to think for themselves. He suggests having conversations with your children that help them think... more

A post I wrote last week inspired comments having to do with separating the issue of poverty from any equation that might mean adoption.

Hunger and malnutrition are a huge problem all over Africa and the rest of the developing world. However, it doesn't mean these kids are not with family that care for them and love them.

In most cases, these families are attempting to keep it together. They are still sending them to school... they are trying! These kids are not in the streets or in orphanages. Their families haven’t given them up. That is why... more

Is it because I'm old, or because it's deplorable? You make the call ...

This story bugs the heck out of me, makes me squirm and want to throttle someone at the same time, and scares the padooky out of me just thinking of the ramifications.

Here's the open:

At the recently opened Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Cinderella's castle in Walt Disney World, hordes of young girls in ball gowns jostle every day to get their hair coiffed, their nails painted and their faces plastered with make-up to imitate their favorite princess.

Really? Parents... more

Since we're coming to the end of National Adoption Month, also known as National Adoption Awareness Month, the news is full of related stories, many local reports of adoptions finalized in group ceremonies marking the occasion.

Adoption stories strong on the positives dominate ... stories like this one, "Adoption gives children loving, stable homes", aimed toward getting the word out that Missouri has about 2,000 children waiting for adoption.

One family's happy encounter with... more

My children’s birthmother had a birthday today! I feel really bad because I have been furiously knitting to try to finish up the gift I have for her, and had hoped to get it out in time, but I am still learning to make “realistic” estimates of my time, now that I have three children. That combined with the holiday last week and the festivities around it, in addition to the mail holiday, added to the delay. Truth be told, I’m generally not a perfectionist, except when it comes to my knitting. I chose this yarn some time ago, and as I worked on the project, it wasn’t what I wanted. I am a pretty “mindful” knitter – I really pour over yarns trying to find just the right one; match the personality... more

I recently wrote a post titled "Preparing for the Worst" (which was followed by posts titled "Hoping for the Best" and "Reality is Usually in the Middle").

A reader left a comment on my "Preparing for the Worst" post, and asked how do you deal with challenging issues so that they don't get worse and asked if they could be dealt with.

I wanted to address this question in a post since I think it is an important question.

One... more