This week marks a milestone for my children: their birthmother’s birthday. We have an open adoption by mutual request, thus, I have the kids make something and we send it off.

My daughter seemed particularly sad this year as we created our gifts. I asked her about it, and her eyes welled with tears. She said she missed her birth mother. Now, I’m not at all competitive with her birthmother, but I questioned this a bit. Whereas my daughter does recall certain fairly catastrophic events in her childhood, and has the Post... more

Part three of our Choosing Quality Child Care series will discuss how to assess the program portion of the child care setting:

Contracts: Is there a contract that clearly spells out policies, procedures, fees, and expectations?

Predictable routines: Not a rigid schedule (0800 report for snack!), but rather can children generally know what to expect? For example, naptime comes after lunch every day, and outdoor... more

Yesterday’s post dealt with the various options available to adoptive parents seeking to place their children in child care settings. Today’s post will address what to look for in a program and assess its fir for your child.

Whether in a traditional Child Care Center or a home-based Family Child Care program, indicators of a quality program will include the following:

Low caregiver to child ratios: This number will vary from state... more

My background is in Early Childhood Education, and pre-motherhood, I worked for a social service agency that helped parents choose quality child care. I created and delivered workshops, and educational materials to help parents navigate the many options available to them.

If you need, or desire, to put your child in a child care setting, here are some tips to keep in mind:

Finding Child Care:

Contact your Employee Assistance Program: Some companies offer on-site child care, discounted child care with contracted... more

I wrote in a recent post about how I’d been looking over old e-mails to our children’s social worker, just as we were beginning to explore adoption. One of those early e-mails warned that the kids were sometimes too cute for their own good, in that people were tempted to overlook a great deal that they ought not to, in light of the severe behavioral issues they had at the time.

It’s still been a struggle to figure out exactly what methods work best with each little personality.... more

Before my youngest came to me, I noticed on the phone that he said, “Huh?” a lot. I asked his foster parents if he had had his speech and hearing checked. They stated they had, but it had been awhile, and he was pretty squiggly through the whole thing being 2 or 3 at the time. They had him checked out again, and sure enough, he had a chronic sinus condition, while not oozing green so as to clue folks in, was significant enough to make his hearing incredibly difficult. All this at an age where his speech was still developing, thus, his speech was often unclear.

From... more

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

In my previous blog , I highlighted where presidential candidate, John McCain stands on certain issues related to adoption. In giving equal time to both candidates, the following is what I have been able to find on Senator Obama’s position on issues that adoptive parents may be interested in.

These blogs are NOT intended to support either candidate at all, just to shed a little light on the subjects.

It is not possible to compare and contrast... more

If you’re anything like me, you’re ready for the political ads, phone calls, billboards and everything else to be over with.

However, as adoptive parents or potential adoptive parents there are issues that we need answers on but are not the things that are usually discussed in political debates, nor are they the targets of all those political ads we have been hearing for months.

This blog, and the following one will highlight what I have been able to find about each candidate on the issues important to us. These blogs are NOT intended to support... more

You are getting ready to finalize on the adoption of your child, or maybe you have just finalized. Now you get the daunting task of changing your child’s name on all the various records. You may not realize how many things you have to change until you’re going through the process.

In most cases in order to change your child’s name you will have to show the adoption decree at the very minimum. Some places may require you to show your child’s old birth certificate, the new birth certificate, guardianship papers (if applicable), social security card, or other forms... more