The Nebraska Safe Haven law was a very badly written law and the results were predictable. The law was very open ended and allowed parents to surrender children up to the age of 18. Then intent was to allow birth mothers the opportunity to relinquish a child they could not care for and prevent them from making other deadly decisions. Legislators could not agree on an upper age limit so they left it open to say “a child” and now teenagers are being surrendered.

There is a bright spot to this very bad law. USA Today ran an... more

I love this story. Why didn’t someone think of this years ago?

If you have a child with ADHD, is energetic or fidgety, you know that school can become a battle ground. Johnny won’t sit still. Johnny won’t stay in his seat. Johnny is always fidgeting. It can be frustrating for both the parent and the child and the child truly can’t help it. It is a chemical disorder in the child’s brain.

There is good news. A teacher decided to work with these kids and designed a desk that allows kids... more

No matter where you live, school is in full swing by now. Some of you have probably gotten nasty letters or notes from school already. At one point in my son’s elementary school career I swore the school had us on speed dial.

I did the battle with my son. He did his homework, I checked it and had him do corrections. We fought tooth and nail. I was determined that he was going to succeed in school, but the determination was only on my part.

I did the dance until I met our attachment therapist, which was five years after he joined our family. We... more

I have blogged before about how our kids have trauma triggers that can make them act out. As parents we have those triggers as well from living with a traumatized child, but few professionals want to acknowledge this.

Today is the anniversary of the worst day of my life. Five years ago today is the last day that I held Kory and Mackenzie. Their worker brought them to our home for a visit and to say good-bye. We spent a couple of hours with them, and my friend Laura came to see them as well. She was Kory’s godmother and adored both of them.

The... more

I came across a very important post-slash-request over at Open Adoption Support. I feel the need to pass it on to you and hope that you will continue to pass it on. In short: some research is being done on adult adoptees who lived through open adoptions. Their opinions and experiences are requested via a survey.

And now, of course, the long and wordy version!

After reading the post, I contacted Christy Sherman to get some more information... more

Highs and Lows are a tradition in our church. We do them at some point during each Sunday school class, we start each meeting or gathering with them and they are one of the things that the kids in our church love to do. This does not have to be limited to church by any means.

Let me explain what highs and lows are. Each person gets a chance to say what the best part of the day was, and then what the worst part of the day was. Kids absolutely love this. It gives them a chance to talk about their day and be heard. My Sunday school kids would remind me of it repeatedly... more

I am part of a bible study group with some good friends. We started out taking Lay Ministry classes together and we have decided to continue our gatherings apart from our classes. In our last class we read a book called “Power Surge” by Michael Foss.

The premise of the books is that there are six ways that you can change from being a church member to a disciple in the way that Jesus wants us to live. ... more

Quick! Someone fly me to the UK because I absolutely, 100% have to see this drama. I'll admit, when I was first reading about "Mine," I went into defensive gear. The adoptive family is portrayed as the be-all and end-all of what society can offer to a child while the expectant mother is, of course, a drug-addicted prostitute. I wanted to scream, "STEREOTYPING!" But the article addressed the issue almost immediately.

In... more

My friend, Elaine, added a new child to her family with a diagnosis that I was totally unfamiliar with. I don’t claim to be an expert on special needs adoption, but I typically hear the same two dozen or so disorders when I talk to other parents. This one threw me for a loop and Elaine and I both researched it.

I went with Elaine to pick up this little boy and offer my insights as an impartial observer. I noticed obvious speech difficulties, possibly Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), attachment issues, sensory integration issues and a few things... more

When a child is in an out of home placement, it can be very difficult for a parent to get answers or be kept in the loop with information.

As I blogged earlier, my son is in a residential placement. He has been there for just over six months and apparently the staff is looking at transitioning him into a step down home. However, I did not learn this from anyone on our team, but instead from my son.

Today I contacted his counselor to find out if he is truly... more