The actress, Edie Falco, who is most closely associated with her role as Carmella Soprano on The Sopranos, recently adopted a daughter, Macy, according to unconfirmed reports posted at several online venues. This is the second child, and second adoption for Ms. Falco, aged 44. Macy joins big brother, Anderson, who is currently 3 year old. Anderson was adopted in 2005, and was named after the mother of the actress, whose maiden name was Anderson.

Falco joins other recent celebrity adoptive parents, including:

Julie Haddon (The Biggest Loser, Season... more

My son was watching a cartoon the other day, and I was surprised to hear the word "adoption" used. I watched the show for a couple of minutes to figure out the context and whether this might be something we needed to discuss further.

From what I could gather, a boy was returning his imaginary friend to a place where imaginary friends are "adopted" by children who want them. I did not follow why he placed his imaginary friend there, but he was clear that he planned to come back for him. The person in charge of the imaginary friend place said that... more

As a parent, there are many things in the media from which I want to shield my child. As a parent of an adopted child, that list only gets longer. Because my adopted child is only six years old, the job has not been too difficult thus far. However, as he gets older, I shudder to think of how my son will be affected by the inaccurate and negative ways that the media portrays adoption.

Even though my son is only six, I have already had to make the decision about whether to let him see the movie Meet the Robinsons.... more

I'd been planning to take my kids out to see this new Disney animated movie that came out today, not really knowing much at all about the plot. Instead, earlier today, I read our newspaper's review article about the movie. It was then I realized the huge role that adoption and adoption issues seem to play in the movie. I'm not sure that many of my children could really handle some of these ideas. Interestingly enough, it's my teens that I'm more concerned about there than my younger children. Without having seen it first, I don't feel terribly comfortable... more

Television- the boob tube as my late grandfather referred to it. How much is too much when it comes to our children? I was one of those who always thought that I would be really strict with the TV. All of a sudden my daughter loves TV. In the past she did not seem to into the television. I kept noggin on for her and occasionally Moose A Moose singing would grab her attention. The past few months she has really discovered the magical square box that entertains her (noggin). She loves watching dvd’s- specifically Blues Clues or Disney... more

Wow. Who knew how much blogging fodder a little white mouse could generate? Our editor sent me this link to an article she wrote about Stuart Little a while back. If you followed my two posts on the movie then you know my saga and how this all relates. If not, I don't want to give it away so I'll encourage you to skip on over to my blog and read all about it. It's entertaining if nothing else, at least I think it is.

We are so... more

Cont'd from yesterday's post:

I came in on the movie at the part where Stuart had already been reunited with his first parents. I started looking at my daughters intently, who then started looking at me intently. I looked away. They looked away. I looked back at them. They looked back at me. This went on for a few exchanges. Finally, my youngest daughter gives me that "What? What is it?" exassperated face. I start babbling away, trying to "process" the movie. After about 15 seconds of my rambling, all three of the kids shouted with barely contained irritation,... more

I read on one of the other Blogs (sorry, but I can't remember which one now) that the adoption storyline in Stuart Little is not the most sensitive treatment of the matter. To be honest, I had not really thought about it. I'd like to think that I catch negative media images about adoption and that while I might not necessarily shelter my chidren from those images, I am able to judge the impact on them and make a decision about the need for further discussion. However, the Stuart Little thing went right over my head.

The bit where Stuart's first... more

Wow. Who knew how much blogging fodder a little white mouse could generate? Our editor sent me this link to an article she wrote about Stuart Little a while back. If you followed my two posts on the movie then you know my saga and how this all relates. If not, I don't want to give it away so I'll encourage you to skip on over to my blog and read all about it. It's entertaining if nothing else, at least I think it is.

We are so funny as parents, aren't... more

Cont'd from yesterday's post:

I came in on the movie at the part where Stuart had already been reunited with his first parents. I started looking at my daughters intently, who then started looking at me intently. I looked away. They looked away. I looked back at them. They looked back at me. This went on for a few exchanges. Finally, my youngest daughter gives me that "What? What is it?" exassperated face. I start babbling away, trying to "process" the movie. After about 15 seconds of my rambling, all three of the kids shouted with barely contained irritation, " Oh, Mommy! Please! We're... more