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This week there is a good article included in the e-magazine titled “Asian Children Growing... more

Ok, how about some controversy for this fine Monday morning??

If you haven’t read it yet, the “buzz” in the world of transracial adoption is this article titled "A Mother Adopts and Discovers her Own Racism” by Lisa Lerner, the adoptive mother of a baby girl from India.

The article provokes discussion and heated ones at that (just check out all of the comments after the article for proof of that).

On one hand, Lisa is an adoptive mom who wrote a very open and honest article about her feelings during her transracial adoption. I believe that she admitted things that most people would not have admitted to close friends... more

I have been thinking lately about what kids really need. The "world" right now seems to think that kids need a lot of things, and I have to say that after giving it a lot of thought, the things that I believe kids truly need and deserve, probably aren't the same things that many people seem to think kids need and deserve.

For instance, I don’t believe that kids need name brand sneakers or $60 pants. I wouldn’t believe that if I only had one kid and all the money in the world. I think if a child truly wanted $60 pants or name brand sneakers, then they should have the opportunity to work, earn money to pay for the item (or even half of the item) and learn the value of a dollar.

Call... more

In regards to school choices and adoption, I will share with you what has worked for our family and my thoughts on things, but keep in mind that many families have done things differently with great results.

We live in a small town with excellent public schools. I honestly know most of my kids’ teachers and administrators. The class sizes are small, and our district has been recognized as the best in the state and even chosen as a “model” for other districts. We have excellent reading and math programs (along with other subjects), as well as wonderful art and... more

Choosing how to educate your children is a very personal matter, and one that does not have a right or wrong answer.

I have many friends who choose to homeschool their children, and it works out wonderfully for the parents and the children. Advocates of homeschool feel that they are able to let their children learn the basics, along with a broader choice of things that really interest them. They are able to tailor learning to the children’s individual learning styles. They are able to focus on learning and not on test taking. They are able to protect their... more

In my last post I discussed a new article on transracial adoption from the New York Times. While overall it was as great article, I was irritated by this comment…

At the same time, some blacks view international adoptions by whites as a slight to black children in need of permanent and stable homes. “I can’t help but wonder why Angelina and Brad can’t adopt an African-American baby here with so many in need,” said Ishia Granger, 36, a black friend of Ms. Brockway.

This sort of mindset (from the woman in the quote above) drives me nuts. I wrote a lot about the differences between domestic adoption and international adoption in this... more

Sorry to be so quiet over the weekend…I’ve been busy.

When you’re pregnant, they tell you that as you get close to the time that the baby will be born, that something in your hormones will cause the “nesting” effect. Nesting refers to the mom preparing her home for the arrival of her new baby, as a mother bird prepares her nest for her eggs and baby birds.

I even had one book that said that “nesting” by a pregnant woman was a sure sign that delivery was near…that when a large pregnant woman started irrationally scrubbing floors and organizing... more

So what do you think about photolistings? Photolistings are websites that feature photos of children that are available and waiting for adoption. Typically the “listings” provide a small photo, age and some basic information on the child. While many countries allow this, some countries do not allow their children to be on photolistings, and some allow “text only” listings.

Advocates of photolistings feel that for harder to place children, they are a wonderful resource. Most adoptive parents do not go out seeking an older child or a special needs child, etc., but many a prospective adoptive parent has fallen in love with a photo of a child and because of that, expanded what they were... more

Along with the blogs that they provide on a variety of topics, Adoption.com also provides a long list of message board adoption forums designated for the discussion of different types of adoption and different adoption related issues.

As the blogger for the Transracial adoption blog, I often check out the transracial adoption forum to see what people are talking about. Lately a discussion has come up that I thought was important enough to address on this blog.

The question was asked (I am summarizing), “Is it ever ok to be selective... more

In some recent “blog surfing”, which I do once in a while to check out other blogs, see what is making headlines and getting ideas for my own blog, I came across this post on the Chunk O Funk blog. Chunk is a dad that writes about his life (and is not, as I can tell, an adoptive dad).

But he had an experience that reminded me of something that adoptive parents do need to keep in the back of their minds and be prepared for.

Chunk was out in the world with his son, and at the end of a long day, his son had a typical pre-schooler melt down when he dropped a candy out of him mouth and his dad threw it... more