Dear God Please Forgive my Daughters First Mother
Dear God, please forgive my daughters’ first mother. I know that isn’t what I used to ask from you. I know I said I wanted her to burn in hell. I know…
Category
Adoption
When Adopted Kids Aren’t Fair You Need to Understand why
We adopted my oldest daughter from Russia when she was fifteen. She’s twenty-three now and I marvel at how far she has come. Emily has intellectual disabilities but she has learned to…
When Adopted Children Don’t Feel Safe at Home
My wife’s father was a notorious sex felon. She left her first family at fifteen and entered the foster system where the form of abuse changed without stopping. She could relate to…
Successful Adoptions Take Time so Give Yourself a Break
I often get messages from concerned parents who want to know if they are a bad mom or dad. Because of the type of writing I do, most of these queries come…
Reactive Attachment Disorder Help me, Please!
“My six-year-old daughter has Reactive Attachment Disorder. Help me, please! I can’t take it anymore!” My heart went out as it always does when I read pleas like this one, typed in a…
Staying Positive: Look at how far We’ve Come, not how far we Have to go
Last week my family and I drove to San Diego to watch the U.S. Marine boot camp graduation for my son. I didn’t realize I would be learning a life lesson from…
Making Home Feel Like Home: Family, Happiness and Love in Spite of Challenges
The outside of our current home is not nearly as impressive as the feelings were inside the most humble place our family has ever lived. Neither Amy nor I came from money.…
Together for Adoption 2014: Urgency and Complexity
Last year I attended an incredible adoption conference called Together for Adoption. There, for the first time, I saw the author of my favorite adoption book: Until We All Come Home. I…
Back to School With Reactive Attachment Disorder: 10 Things to do
Your child is heading back to school with Reactive Attachment Disorder. If you’re like me, that’s good news and bad news. My kids that have RAD feel just like I do. We…
Teaching Kids Responsibility: Parenting Teens
Teaching kids responsibility: My grandpa, Merlin D. Simmons, picking seed peas on the family farm with his father, uncle, siblings and cousins. Circa 1920 My grandpa thought teaching kids responsibility was easy. In his…
International Family: Build on Differences. Don't Hide Them
Our International Family An international family, like ours, needs to consider how to turn differences into strengths rather than allowing them to be weaknesses. As we prepared to bring our first…
Orphans and Homes for Them to go Home to
We need to find homes for orphans to go home to. Alright, maybe “orphans” is the wrong word. Heaven knows that word has been brutalized for monetary purposes. There are “children of…