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…
Category
Disorders/Mental Illness
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.…
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…
Compassion in Court: When Justice <strike>Is Served</strike> Serves
It wasn’t Emily’s fault that she needed compassion in court. Oh sure, she committed the crimes against members of our family; but it still wasn’t her fault. My daughter had committed felonies…
Challenge Limits Instead of Limiting Challenges
We challenge limits instead of limiting challenges in our family. Rippling biceps; six pack abs; toned calves and thighs… yep; that’s how my family members look. On the inside. Oh, we're not…
Russian Orphans: The Moisieva Koshkina Family
The Moiseyeva/Koshkina family lived in half of this duplex in Fralovka, Russia. This is where Maria Anatolievna Moiseyeva and Vitaly Anatolievich Moiseyev were born. Recently we changed things in this document to…
Inconsistency and Reactive Attachment Disorder: Vacations
Inconsistency and Reactive Attachment Disorder make vacation the Devil! The whole reason that our children have Reactive Attachment Disorder is tied to the fact that there was so little consistency in their…
Overstimulation and Reactive Attachment Disorder: Vacations
Overstimulation and Reactive Attachment Disorder make vacation the Devil! My daughters who have Reactive Attachment Disorder have stared death in the face. I won’t bother to detail all of the types of…