Adopted Children Feel Secure Loving More, Not Less
It has been said that love is the answer no matter the question. Right or wrong, I can tell you this: In our family, adopted children feel secure loving more, not less.…
Category
Coping with Trauma and/or Abuse
When Mothers’ Day is Hard for Children
Mothers Day Hard for Children My adopted daughters struggle with all of the conflicting feelings that come with a Mothers’ Day fraught with memories of a birth mother who brutally abused them,…
How to Fix Your Child With a Magic Wand
My oldest daughter hadn’t been home from Russia for a month before we noticed her pointing pencils or other objects at us while contorting her eyes and face. Emily had come from…
My Valentine
Twenty-six years ago I was engaged to one of the most beautiful girls I had ever known. It was no secret she was out of my league. In fact, the only reason…
Rainbows and Unicorns Should Erase Adoption Scars
There really is a beautiful and almost magical side to our adoption stories. We wanted our daughters badly. Our sons wanted little sisters, too. We painted bedrooms and bought new clothes. We…
Sometimes Things Aren’t as They Seem
Denney was less than a year old when he went to the orphanage in Russia. He didn’t know much about his history before joining our family; but that was by his own…
The Term "Real Mother" Confuses Us
Mothers’ Day has always been a tough one at our house. My wife, Amy, came from a home where she was abused by her father and her mother did nothing to stop…
Mental Illness Is Like Other Illness
Amy and I have three biological children and six adopted ones in our family. Parenting that many children should clue you in on the fact that there is some mental illness in the home, if…
Broken Lives and Broken Tiles can be Things of Beauty
Broken Tiles in Our Master Bathroom Broken lives, to my wife, were reflected in the broken tiles of our new Master Bath. “It’s even more beautiful because they were broken!” At…