Modeling Respect For Children

by Pam Leo
“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.”
- James Baldwin
Children are mirrors; they reflect back to us everything we say and do. We now know that 95% of everything children learn, they learn from what is modeled for them. Only 5% of [...]

15 MORE Fun Things To Do With Your Child

Here’s fifteen more fun (low cost or free) things to do with your children, from the members of the Forever Parents adoption forums.
This list is part of the Friday Fifteen.
1. Play dress up
2. Play “Red Light Green Light”
3. Cook dinner together
4. Go to the park
5. Have a craft hour
6. Go to a park and [...]

Adoption Lifebooks

Thirteen Things to include in an adoption lifebook
1. Information on where your child was born. I requested information on the visitors website where my children were born.2. Print out a “On the day you were born” from this site.
3. Photographs of those who were involved such as case workers, agency staff, foster parents, etc.
4. [...]

Meg Ryan On Adoption

In an interview, Meg Ryan, who adopted from China last year says “”I am convinced, completely and utterly convinced, that there was nothing random about the adoption. She is the daughter I should have”.
Related Tags: adoption, adopt, adopting, international adoption, adopting from china, meg ryan

Share and Enjoy:
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers [...]

Blending Biological And Adopted Children

People come to adoption for many reasons and infertility is only one of them, although society seems to think it’s the only reason. It’s like people can’t believe that someone would pick adoption as their first choice. Many parents blend adoptive and biological children in the family. I myself come from a blended family. My [...]

Thoughts From An Adult Adoptee

I came across an interesting list that I’d like to share (with the authors permission) of recommendations for parents from the perspective of an adult adoptee.
Not all of these points may apply to every situation. Such as #3. We didn’t come to adoption after infertility and I never had a longing for biological children. In [...]

Embryo Adoption

This recent article is about a couple who adopted their two-year-old daughter as a frozen embryo left stored in a fertility clinic freezer and are now using their story to fight against legislation that would permit research using human embryos.

A couple who adopted their two-year-old daughter as a frozen embryo left stored in a fertility clinic [...]

Meeting With A Birthmother

Interesting article from The New York Times, about the author’s meeting with a birthmother. Nona Martin Stuck, already a mother to three, shares her thoughts during her fourth adoption. It’s quite a touching story, which starts with the meeting and goes all the way through the birth of her son, which she was present for.
By [...]

Five Reasons To Stop Saying “Good Job!” To Your Kids

By Alfie Kohn
Hang out at a playground, visit a school, or show up at a child’s birthday party, and there’s one phrase you can count on hearing repeatedly: “Good job!” Even tiny infants are praised for smacking their hands together (”Good clapping!”). Many of us blurt out these judgments of our children to the point [...]

Our Adoption Story: Part Three

We continued to visit with them on the weekends and talking on the phone during the week. Billy was able to get every weekend off for several weeks in a row so we could have time with them.
I felt very strongly that we not buy them a lot of gifts or take them to many [...]