When I wrote my last post, Power of Books in Understanding Adoption, I was surprised to find that the Adoptive Parenting blog had no book review of Jamie Lee Curtis' book, Tell Me Again About the Night I was Born. I decided to rectify this with this post.

This book is my favorite adoption book written for little... more

I love to read almost as much as I love to write. Books are my constant companion, and I learn so much through them. I have found that the same holds true for children: They can learn so much through reading a book. Reading books about adoption is a great way for children to understand the difficult concepts involved in adoption in an age-appropriate and non-threatening manner.

My favorite book about adoption is Jamie Lee Curtis' Tell... more

In my last couple of posts, Why Adoptive Parents Need to Slow Down and Why Adoptive Parents Need to Connect with Others, I have been talking about how important it is to let go of the busy-ness of life and make time to connect with other people.

One big issue I see in many people around me is the failure to nurture themselves. While this is not... more

In my last post, Why Adoptive Parents Need to Slow Down, I stated that one danger in keeping our lives too busy is that it leads to isolation. For whatever reason, Western society has lost sight of the necessity of connecting with other people. For us adoptive parents, it is doubly important that we teach our children how to connect with other people because of the issues they will deal with as they process their adoption histories. Whether this involves processing... more

When looking for parenting advice and resources, it is often difficult to find articles and information that address the specific concerns of adoptive parents. While there are often articles about how to adopt in more mainstream parenting magazines, they seldom speak to the specific issues and concerns that parents face while raising adopted children.

A terrific resource our family found early on has been Adoptive Families Magazine. We actually located this helpful magazine in 1985 before we... more

Adoption is about families, all sorts of families.

Family includes extended family. They may not be involved in the day to day parenting of your adopted child. But, parents/grandparents, brothers/sisters, aunts/uncles, and cousins are also part of a family. Like it or not, their responses and reactions to your adoption and your adopted child have an impact on your family.

Was/is your family supportive? If so, that’s great for everyone. And yet, you may find that even having a supportive family member doesn’t mean you won’t have... more

It’s been my goal to make more Mommy friends. Being a Stay at home Mom can be isolating and friends are a must. I have been reflecting on my past friendships and why I’m no longer friends with certain people. I went to three different elementary schools, three different middle schools and two different high schools and moved at least 10 times during my childhood from the ages 5-18. What does that have to do with friends? Well I made friends but never kept the same friends due to moving so often. I knew after a while not to get close... more

Many discussions have taken place about all of the “players” in an adopted child’s story. There are birth parents, adoptive parents, possibly foster parents. In the case of many of my children, there are even previous adoptive parents. There might be siblings in the birth family, siblings in the adopted family, and/or siblings in foster families. There may be many different sets of grandparents as well (or even going on to include aunts/uncles and cousins).

Today, I was reminded of yet another person that might be involved in a child’s adoption... more

Two girls, both Russian-born teenage adoptees have become friends through these blogs. These are two of the most amazing girls, older child adoptees, bent on now giving back to other children without families. I’ve been absolutely inspired by both of them.

A month ago, Virginia wrote on the Russian Adoption blog about her meeting with a fascinating young... more

I write much about the importance of a good support system and a part of getting the help you need is the ability to accept help that is offered to you. I know many people who said once we arrived home with our new toddler “If you ever need anything just call”. I’m not one to easily ask for help. An offer like that may seem welcoming and is probably sincere, but making that call to ask for help is difficult for me. I know many family members who would be happy to watch Livi so John and I could have an evening out.. something we have never done in... more