I cannot remember where I heard or read this, but I have heard it said that adopted children are less likely to leave the home when they turn eighteen. They are also supposedly less likely to leave town to go to college or take a job. Instead, they are more likely to live at home while attending a local college or get a job closer to their adoptive parents' home.

I tried to find this article on the Internet but was not successful, so I must have read it in a book somewhere. I am not saying that this premise is true. I just thought this was... more

When I was going through the home study process, my social worker told me to read several books about adoption. One of these books talked about birthdays being a sad time for adopted children. According to the author, for children placed for adoption as a newborn, a child's birthday is also the day that his birthmother "abandoned" him. The author said to keep an eye out for bad behavior around a child's birthday because this could indicate that a child is struggling with adoption issues. The child might... more

My son recently had a birthday. He attends a Montessori school, where birthdays are a really big deal.

Montessori schools have an entire program set up for birthday celebrations. The children sit in a big circle. In the middle of the circle is something to represent the sun. Index cards with the months of the year are placed around the sun. The birthday child holds a globe and circles the sun to represent one year of his life. Meanwhile, the class sings a song about each year. The child stops after each year, and the parent shares stories and pictures of the child... more

Last week, I shared about medicating my son for his Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). My son has acted like a perpetual four- or five-year-old for years even though he is now seven years old. Because his behavior was like a younger child's behavior, I modified my parenting accordingly.

Now that my son is medicated, it is as if he matured two years overnight. Suddenly, he is doing things that he could not do before. He is also processing things... 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

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. One emotion I am facing is guilt.

Hub and I had a blow up this week over the medication issue. In the course of this argument, hub pointed out how I always said that I would not feel complete without a child. The reason we even adopted in the first place was because I would not rest until we had a child.... more

As I shared in my last two posts, Medicating the Adopted Child for ADHD and Frustration With Medicating the Adopted Child for ADHD, I have been facing the struggles of medicating my adopted child for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Even though I tried... more

In my last post, Medicating the Adopted Child for ADHD, I shared the positive side of medicating my adopted child for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This post is about the frustrations.

While the first day of my son being on ADHD medication was sheer bliss, the side effects were just awful. Once the medication wore off, he was just as hyperactive as... more

I have shared several times that my adopted son Nicholas, who is seven years old, has Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). I have been advocating for medication for well over a year, but I have not gotten much support from the doctor or my husband until recently.

The school got involved with a situation that happened on the campus, and my son was referred to the school's intervention team. Long story short, they sent home a bunch of paperwork expressing "significant... more

One of my adult adoptee friends was always curious about her birth name. She was not a newborn when she was adopted, but she was a baby, so I guess she suspected that she might have a different name on her original birth certificate. Her adoptive mother did not want to share that information with her, and this turned into a difficult situation. Ultimately, my friend did learn what her birth name was but never asked to be called that name.

I wonder if the reason the adoptive mother was so opposed to letting her child know her birth name was because she feared... more