In my last post, I gave tips on how to prepare your children for a new sibling through transracial adoption.

In this post, I will address some things that are specific to adding an older child to your family, and tips on making the adjustment as smooth as possible for all of your children.

-Explain to your children at home how their new sibling will likely be feeling. Ask them to think about how they would feel if they were all of a sudden... more

After writing about how wonderful it has been for me to watch my kids welcome each new addition into our family, I thought that I would write about how to prepare your children at home for a new child that is joining the family through transracial adoption.

Adding another child to your family is obviously a very big deal, and is one that will have a huge impact on the child or children already in your home. The early days home with a new child can be stressful and... more

Knowing the warning signs for attachment difficulty and weak attachment is a good thing, but knowing strategies to improve your child’s attachment is just as important. Here are some tips.

-Have as much physical contact as possible. Carry a baby or toddler in a carrier. Rock children of all ages in your lap in a rocking chair. Consider co-sleeping with your child, at least in the beginning. With older kids, try hair brushing, back rubbing, rubbing lotion on arms and legs, playing games... more

In this post I started discussing fears regarding attachment and bonding that many adoptive parents have. Now I am going to discuss risk factors for attachment problems in children.

There are several known risk-factors that can make a child more likely to have attachment difficulties, and many of them occur frequently in the lives of children available for adoption.

Some of the risk factors for attachment problems are...

- one or more changes in caretaker... more

I am going to take a break from all of my writing about adoption barriers and concerns, and share something a little bit more light-hearted for this post.

Today was one of those busy busy days...making appointments, boosting kids in and out of the van repeatedly and the seemingly endless process of buckling and unbuckling carseats.

I used to be able to run errands without calling any attention to myself. I could blend right into the crowd, and get in and out of the stores, doctor offices, etc. without standing out in any way. Once we became a transracial... more

Continued...

So Josh decided to go and say something. He said hi, introduced himself and apologized for staring, and told them that their family was beautiful. Then he explained that he was usually the one being stared AT, not the one doing the staring, and he told them about our family.

Turns out they had a great conversation…This family has nine kids, including several from Haiti and one from a domestic adoption, along with their biological kids. They were thrilled to hear about our family, and they talked with Josh about raising transracial families in small country areas, different... more

As the mom of a large transracial family, I often write about our experiences being “out and about” and how conspicuous we are and the attention (both positive and negative) that we receive. We get nice comments, we get rude comments and we get down right silly ones…

Case in point…yesterday, I took all of the kids to dinner by myself. As I carried my two trays of happy meals back to the play room, a mom looked at me and said, “Birthday party?” I said, “Nope…just my family.”(and smiled at her politely.) She got this bewildered look and said, “oh…that’s nice… I guess.” And she didn’t smile…it was more like a sneer.

Whatever. (Later on she did comment nicely that my 10 kids were... more

Continued from here

We served up dinner of doro wat, shiro wat and injera, along with a huge pot of spaghetti for the kids that didn’t feel brave (although to their credit, they all tried it). Most of the kids loved the doro wat, although most of them chose to mix it in with their spaghetti instead of eating it with the injera. Injera is definitely an acquired taste. (I love it).

Josh and I ate WAY too much. It is amazing to me how much smells and tastes... more

Last night was A LOT of fun. Thanks to some family of ours, who drove a whole heap of Ethiopian food up to us from a fantastic little Ethiopian restaurant that is seven hours away, we had the most wonderful meal…and the most wonderful time watching Belane and Benjamin go NUTS!

Our brother and his girlfriend found a fantastic little Ethiopia restaurant down near where they live, and when they told the Ethiopian family that runs it about our family and our kids from Ethiopia, they were very excited. We were called and asked what our favorite... more

I have written quite a few posts on this blog about hair.

You can read this one on Transracial Adoption Hair Care, and this one on learning how to "do hair",.

You can also read "Adventures in Hair Care" Part One, Part Two, Part Three... more