You may have noticed yourself feeling extra moody during your pregnancy. One minute you might be feeling fine and then the next minute you are crying at a Hallmark commercial on television!

A pregnant friend recently called me telling me that she thought she was going crazy because one minute she’d be laughing and then the next minute she’d be crying. Perhaps you are experiencing this too? Don’t worry; you are not going crazy, it’s normal. Almost every pregnant woman on the planet has to deal with mood swings during pregnancy due to the increase of hormones. Plus, the... more

When a child enters your home, you are faced with a unique situation. Finding appropriate care for your child when you need to be away. There are certain things are limited or prohibited by your license, and may need to be negotiated if you need to have the rules modified for your family. It is possible to get an exception for these.

Some of the restrictions on the foster care licensing paperwork that we filled out for Hannah’s adoption are:

• You may not combine care of foster child with in-home daycare • One parent home full time • Only... more

Thursday I picked up a child to come to my home for respite for the weekend. I wasn’t given full information about this child or she never would have entered my home. She disrupted our entire home until 2:00 AM and enough so that my husband returned her to her parents at 3:30 AM.

I am used to defiant children. That’s not a big deal to me. She also set to trying to get me angry. As she threatened to break a bottle of wine on my floor and I didn’t flinch, then threatened to break my window with the bottle of wine, I still didn’t flinch. I have been through... more

I won't lie. I don't like basketball. It's the squeaking shoes. I'm sensitive to sounds and those squeaking shoes annoy me to no end. But a recent article caught me eye. Can you guess why? That's right. It mentioned adoption.

Now, in case you don't know a lick about basketball, we're in the midst of March Madness. The article I'm referring to hit prior to the Kansas (ranked number 1) and Villanova (ranked number 12) game. Unfortunately, Villanova... more

And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” (Mark 4:37-41; NKJV)

It’s... more

I recently stumbled upon an opinion piece regarding counseling in the Sun Sentinel that brings up the fact that counseling for birth parents doesn’t happen as often as it should “in real life.”

The author begins by talking about the movie Juno, which is the story of a teenager who unexpectedly becomes pregnant and then goes on to place her baby for adoption. Although, it’s never stated in the article and I could be totally off base, by... more

Are you considering adopting a premature infant? Women having a normal pregnancy can delivery prematurely; but some types of drug abuse commonly cause premature birth. A new study indicates that the side effects of premature birth last long after a baby leaves the neonatal intensive care unit. Other studies have focused on the immediate risks of premature birth where this study focused on adult life of premature children. Premature birth is defined as delivery that occurs before 38 weeks of gestation. In... more

One of the things you may hear discussed is “kinship care.” What does that mean? Well, it seems to be self-explanatory. Kinship care means that the child is in the care of a relative.

The relationship with the child can vary. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins can all be caregivers for a relative minor child if they interested, appropriate and capable caregivers. This is determined by a background check from social services, along with other determining criteria.

Kinship care is not at all unusual. About one third of all children in foster care... more

Spring has sprung! Well technically, it has. We still had freezing temperatures overnight earlier in the week, but according to the calendar it is spring. Do you have an upcoming visit with your child and family? If so, I have spring visit ideas for you.

Note: Some of the ideas below will vary depending on exactly how open your adoption is, the type of relationship you have with your child’s adoptive parents, the leeway you have with visits, and your child’s age. The ideas below are intended to include the child’s adoptive parents and siblings as well.

As a foster and adoptive parent for 14 years as well as a birth parent for 25 years, you might think that I have seen or heard it all. It is true that I do not shock or surprise easily and when a child tries to shock me, I usually reciprocate. Sometimes I help or go along with a joke. Thus, my children are likely to tell me or ask me just about anything. Yesterday, my 18-year-old son asked me to help him with a dare. His boss has resigned and today is the going away party. His boss is balding and some coworkers thought it would be funny if Shea cut his hair to look... more