December 2, 2007 our ten year old daughter, Dani, will have been part of our family for three years. Originally, her parents’ rights were to be terminated in April of 2006. For various reasons, none of which were very good, that didn’t happen until September of 2006. Because of backlogs and workloads, her file didn’t make it from the foster care section to the adoption section, which are both located on the same floor, until February of 2007. Our homestudy had been updated in July of 2006 for our private adoption of a newborn so we were hoping Dani’s adoption would be complete... more

Hubby is an independent contractor, and as such, has pretty flexible. He came home early today and took the kids to Spanish class, so that I could get some rest.

The kids loved having dad take them to class. Because of the flexible nature of what he does, they get to see him more often than most dads who work more traditional hours, but still, they were thrilled to hang out with Daddy for awhile today.

From the moment our oldest was born, my husband has been a full co-parent. Though he works full time, he manages not only to make time for the children, but for me as well, so that I can have a little bit of time to re-group.

Because I homeschool the kids and am with... more

I was reading an interesting article in a parenting periodical today at the doctor's office. It was a lighthearted look at chores. Behind the humor was a real issue I think many parents grapple with.

When my family moved into this house a year ago, I made an observation about all of the houses on our block - all of the cars park in the driveway, not the garage. When you see the neighbors with the garage door up, all you see inside are boxes. Most people, including our family, use their garage space as storage spaces.... more

In addition to National Adoption Awareness Month, November is also National Novel Writing Month. For the past several years, many in the blogosphere have been participating in an event called NaNoWriMo (taken from the first few letters of each of the words in National Novel Writing Month). NaNoWriMo also has a Young Writers Program, and this year, my oldest son is (voluntarily!) participating as part of... more

Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6)

The American Heritage Dictionary defines discipline as, “Training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior, especially training that produces moral or mental improvement.” 1

Now that we are three months into this gig – the transition is over, the newness has worn off, life has settled into a routine – it was time tonight to revisit discipline.

We’ve noticed some behaviors that are beginning to slide down that “slippery slope” – having to repeat our requests to them, beginning to “negotiate” after a request has been... more

Today marks the three month anniversary of the finalization of our adoption. Here are some impressions of the last three months:

The beginning is tough! Man, those first few days and nights were hard. I absolutely cannot fathom how a single parent does this! My husband and I “spelled” each other during those first crucial and excruciating first days.

You love your children immediately, but sometimes liking them sometimes takes awhile. Don’t get me wrong – I adore all three of my children, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a mother bear who loves her cubs more – but during the really behaviorally challenging times, I had to switch to “agape-mode.” Agape is the selfless love... more

There is theory that the longer you have your pet, the more they begin to look like you. Now, I’m not comparing adopted children to pets, but it is interesting how your kids begin to take on your characteristics!

Lately I’ve noticed some of the silly made up expressions I use, coming out of the mouths of my children! They rock out to the music of my favorite 70’s band, and they have a love for my husband’s favorite band, as well.

The kids mimic their older brother, both intentionally and not. They have some of his same facial expressions, and ours as well. At first, it was difficult for my oldest son - who, for nine whole years had been an only child – to grasp the concept... more

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Many times here at AdoptionBlogs.com we talk about the challenges associated with parenting children who have special needs. But what happens when the parent is the one who has special needs?

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Education: If your child were the one with special needs, you would run down every source you could to find out more about that condition or disorder. So it is when the parent... more

One of the biggest issues I grapple with as a Christian mother, is how to be focused on worship during services – giving honor to God - and training my children in the pew regarding proper conduct and attending to their many needs.

Like most things in Christianity, there are several schools of thought:

Some feel that children need to “suck it up” and be mini-adults and learn to worship by sitting in the pews ramrod straight and following along – regardless of the child’s age.

Many congregations have a “children’s church” where the kids are completely separate from the adults, so the adults can worship in peace, and the children have an age-appropriate time of worship.

Others... more

For people who have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), experiencing another incident like the death of a loved one or pet, a natural disaster or some other ancillary event, can trigger and exacerbate the condition.

Remember the re-experiencing or reliving the incident are hallmarks of PTSD. After a recent earthquake, my daughter talked about it for days afterward, and would rock her bed to simulate it. For people with PTSD, this type of recreating of events is commonplace.

If possible, try to have a more relaxed schedule in the days following the precipitating event. The stress of trying to hurry about can make a difficult time even harder. Use the time to allow your... more