Thursday is going to be a nerve wracking and exciting day for me.

Last year I blogged about the CAP Fund Care-A-Van for Kids fundraiser for child abuse prevention. It is coming around again, and this time I will be an active part of it. I have done financial contributions for many years, but this year is much more personal.

One of the largest components of this fundraiser is the personal stories from abuse survivors. I am one of those survivors and I will... more

Maybe you are a birth parent in reunion with your adult child. Perhaps you are a birth parent involved in an open adoption with your relinquished child and the adoptive family. Maybe you're even an expectant mother considering adoption and trying to decide what information is pertinent to pass on to your child should you decide to relinquish your rights upon birth. Whatever your scenario, the answer is simple:

Just about everything.

Over the next few days I'll hit on some "big" things that you most definitely want to share as well as some smaller... more

Nothing ever seems to go just right or easy for my 15-year-old son with ADHD. He is smart, in fact he is very smart, at 15 he is a sophomore at the local community college. His younger brother is jealous of him, as many of the kids who know him are, because he is so smart. However, most do not realize how difficult life is for him. Everything seems to go wrong and for no reason. He has a good heart; he would do just about anything for anyone. Yet many people don’t like him. Adults think he is a know it all, rude, or disruptive. Other children think he is mean, too smart,... more

In continuing with my 40th birthday theme, here are more things you didn't know about me.

In November 1988, I packed up all my worldly possessions and moved to Dallas to be with a man I had known for just over six months. (He’s my husband now.)

My husband and I were engaged on New Year’s Eve and married in August.

I celebrated my 19th wedding anniversary two weeks ago.

I did not walk down the aisle to the traditional wedding march. Our wedding song was “Can’t Helping Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley.

My husband and I were married... more

This post is being dripped in, since today I am celebrating my 40th birthday on a camping trip with my church family. I’m excited, but a little bit nervous of what they might have planned for me.

To take a page from my friend, and former blogger, Nancy’s brain, here are 40 things you didn’t know about me before. At least I think you didn’t know them.

I was born six months after my parents got married. I was a healthy “preemie” at 7 lbs.

I was named after my great-grandmother, Florence Kelly, who was adopted.

I am the oldest child, and the... more

In my prior blog, I wrote about the negative feelings that we can develop toward our kids. We live in chaos on a daily basis, so who can expect us to feel warm and fuzzy toward our kids all the time?

The truth is, parents need a “time out” just as much as our kids do. When our kids are misbehaving, we sometimes put them in a time out to get a break from the situation. Why should parents be any different?

When parents are expected to be super heroes, constantly giving and getting nothing in return, we get stressed out and potentially abusive parents.... more

I’ve noticed that the blogs that I have written about having doubts and negative feelings about your foster or adopted child have been the most viewed of everything I have written lately.

This tells me that there are a lot of stressed out parents out there. You’re looking for validation of your feelings and to know that you are not alone. I’m here to tell you that you are not.

Every parent has times that they feel stressed out with their children, and we are no exception. “Normal” parents are not dealing with the things that we are. They do not have children... more

In my last post, I shared bits and pieces of an interview with birthmom and author, Patricia Dischler. Patricia previously shared her experience with her semi open adoption that turned into an open adoption when her son was twelve.

Like any situation, there are positives and negatives involved. For Patricia, the positives to her situation were that she never really felt like she was saying goodbye to her son. She made the decision to place him for adoption because she wanted him... more

My previous blog talked about insensitivity and downright ignorance in a new movie from Hollywood. You’d think that people in a church would know better. I guess not.

My husband sent me this article and I sat with my jaw on the floor as I read it. A 13 year old boy was banned from his church in Minnesota. It seems that the boy has Autism and has some behavioral issues associated with this. He wasn’t just banned by his church, this case went to court and a judge upheld it! How in the... more

I recently had the opportunity to interview Patricia Dischler. Patricia is a birthmother and has written a book about her experience titled Because I Loved You.

Patricia placed her son for adoption at age 21. However, her first instinct was to parent but during her pregnancy the birth father left town and Patricia had run into some problems with her business partner (she co-owned a printing company) and eventually decided that adoption would be the best option for her baby.

All this... more