Since getting home with my daughter there have been certain things I have been looking forward to experiencing with her. Her first trip to the beach, her first ride on Merry-go round and making her Choo-choo wheels pasta. The last has been harder to accomplish than you would think. I could not for the life of me find this pasta sometimes called “ Tommy Wheels”.

I shopped at every store within a 20-mile vicinity and searched high & low but could not for the life of me find my favorite childhood train wheel shaped pasta. I finally... more

Well, it is T-minus one and counting. We load up the bought and paid for gas guzzling SUV and head out to ATL for a two week visit with my wonderful in-laws. I've mentioned before (I forget if it was on this blog or another one) that my kids have declared this "the best sumnmer ever." I have mentioned, also, that they say that every summer. However, I think that they just might be right about this summer. There are a couple of reasons for that.

First, the kids have been having a blast at day camp with all of their friends. I have been especially thrilled because the camp is run by our... more

How many of us are grateful for our children? I know most of us would have a knee-jerk reaction and automatically claim that we are grateful, and most of us probably are, but do we act like it? Do we show it? Sometimes the days of parenting can get so long, and so hectic, and so discombobulated that it can be tough going hanging on to an attitude of gratitude. Discombobulated. My grandmother used to use that word all of the time. But my children had to teach me what it means, how, when, and where to use it! Here are some things I am going to do today to express my gratitude to the world, the gods, the Universe, fate even, for the presence of all three of my children in my life. Today I will:

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Every mother thinks her children are beautiful and I am no exception. My son is strikingly handsome and the girls are take your breath away drop dead gorgeous. The girls look very much like one another. My son looks like a carbon copy of my husband. My oldest daughter, at times, has an uncanny resemblance to me. I think this is probably because of certain of her mannerisms and her facial expressions that she has picked up from me. I have a picture of her, and one of me, when we are each five years old and with our two front teeth missing. When people see the pictures they are surprised... more

I am a Life Book negligent adoptive mom. Or would that be Life Book challenged? Life Book disabled? I know how important the concept of a Life Book is for many adoptive families. I respect and admire those parents who are diligent about keeping a Life Book for their adopted children. I'm just not one of them. From the moment the girls were permanently placed with us, we were caught up in the actual day-to-day living with them. The business of putting together and maintaining the Life Book about our journey to becoming a family just never made it to the top of my priority list.

I... more

In psychobabble terms, today's post may well reflect the process of "undoing." I'll spare everybody the boring textbook lecture on that psychonalytic construct. Besides, there's not enough room to begin to discuss it. But, I started laughing out loud when I, at first, "thought" that I had suddenly come up with the theme for my next topic: Abrecadabra! Turning bad days into good. I thought this would essentially be a post on the joys of adoptive parenting. Hmm. I smell a rat.

I write for three days straight about some very personal and very intense feelings on the topic of adoption remorse. Right? Then, "out of the blue" I decide (eureka!) I'll post on how terrific it is to be an adoptive... more