When families come to me asking for help with a troubled adoption, the first thing I always want to talk to them about is whether or not they have been able to use respite care.

Most of the time, I get back one of two answers. Either they hadn’t ever heard of the idea of respite care or they didn’t know how to find or use respite.

I’ve found that, properly found and used, respite can really save the sanity of adoptive parents. In some cases, having the resource can even help to save a very troubled adoption. I used to run a support group... more

I recently found out about an excellent respite center close to my home. Like many great services I learned by word of mouth. Two Moms’ I met at a playgroup both mentioned this center to me asking me if I took Livi. The whole thing sounded like heaven to me. It’s like the universe was pointing me in the right direction just when cabin fever and the terrible twos where taking a toll on me. Whenever I get hints like that… several people just coincidently mentioning the very same program I take that as a big hint. They explained the program to me. They... more