Regular readers will know that my oldest has auto-immune Type 1 diabetes, which necessitates a blood sugar check somewhere in the neighborhood of 2:00 a.m - 3:00 a.m. But last night, this Mama pulled an all-nighter!

I usually stay up if my son is high (and sometimes if he’s low) to re-check in an hour. This morning, he was low, so I went and got some juice, woke him up and adjusted his insulin pump.

As I left the kitchen, I was met in the hall by my daughter, who informed me that she had one of the nosebleeds she frequently suffers from. After... 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

Last night my daughter, Hannah, and my husband had a “date” together. The Milwaukee Brewers gave away 5,000 tickets to last night’s game and they went to the game together.

This is not something we would have normally planned since it was a school night, but the opportunity was too good to resist. They had a great time at the game when the Brewers one with a grand slam home run in extra innings. Pretty exciting for Hannah’s first time at a baseball game.

Hannah loves to spend time when it’s just her and her daddy. A few times through the year I... more

Because we home school - and home school year ‘round - we don’t really have an “official” herald that summer is here. No end of school year kick-off to really mark the passing of another grade. I chose to home school year ‘round, because, as a child with undiagnosed ADD (I wasn’t diagnosed until adulthood), I found that making the transition from the purely recreational back into a formal, structured schedule was really hard. Plus, it seemed like I had to play “catch up” a little bit since my brain atrophied a bit over the summer! This way, it’s not like pulling teeth... more

Yesterday was my daughter's dress rehearsal for the first ever ballet recital! We had the actual performance this morning. I sat in the audience of 200 or so proud, beaming parents as their children danced to a variety of songs. Bows were lost, shoes came off, cues were missed, amid many missteps and forgotten routines. But, if you ask any parent who was in attendance, it was perfectly flawless!

Following up on the Mother-Daughter Bonding idea from yesterday, my daughter (obviously)... more

My daughter lost her first tooth before she came to us. Ironically, it occurred during one of our weekly phone calls to her foster home as we were getting to know the kids long distance. So, in a way, we got to participate in that first, but it was not the same as witnessing it in person.

For what seems like weeks, my youngest son has been giving us almost hourly status reports on his loose tooth. It's been wiggly; very wiggly; really, really wiggly...you get the idea! Today, however, after many false alarms, he finally lost his first tooth! Man, oh, man, was... more

What are the advantages of spending time in a classroom with your adopted child? It doesn’t matter if you choose to be a classroom mom at public school, participate in a homeschool cooperative, or teach a Sunday school class. The point is to see your child interacting with peers and to note how your child compares academically with similar aged peers. What can you expect to get out of this classroom experience with your child? Children adopted at an older age sometimes fall into odd patterns of communication with their parents. Unless you are an employed teacher in the current... more

As a kid, I loved board games, but never played the very popular Game of Life. Now, as an adult, I still love games, though I play more of them on the computer than anything else.

Imagine, then, my joy at finding a “newfangled” version of the game of Life for the computer! But, boy, is it ever fast-paced. With my ADD, there are times in the game where I just get mind-boggled with all the activity going on! At various stages of... more

Have you been accused of spoiling your adopted baby? Most adoptive families wait a long time for their baby. Many times, we are older than typical families. This may be because we may have tried to have children for several years before deciding on adoption. Of course if we waited until we were older we probably also have more time and money than younger parents still in their 20s. All of this adds up to a baby that is very much wanted, appreciated, loved, and yes, spoiled. I don’t think spoiling your adopted baby is a bad thing. That is if you are spoiling the child with... more

This week, I have been writing about medicating my adopted child for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and the emotions that this process has evoked in me. I want to end this series on a positive note.

Yes, dealing with my son's special needs has been hard, but he is much more than a walking special need. He is a great kid. He is smart, funny, warm, loving, forgiving, and incredibly funny. The child is almost always positive and in a good mood.

My... more