Bringing home a new child, whether he is a baby, toddler, school-aged child or teenager, is a huge event in a family. For my next few posts, I will be offering up advice and sharing tips to help ease the adjustment for you, your new child and your family. These tips will be geared towards families adopting children of all ages, and for families adopting both domestically and internationally.

My tip for today is to prepare. There are things you can to do emotionally prepare for your child's arrival, and there are things that you can do to physically prepare for your child's arrival, all of which will help make life easier once your child does arrive.

In my last post I gave advice on how to prepare emotionally, and in this post I will give tips on how to prepare physically.

- Get organized. Bringing home a new child to an organized home will make life much easier for you. Have his room, clothes and toys ready to go. Have your bills and paperwork in order. If there are holidays or birthdays coming up, get things ready for that. Clean and organize anything that you can have clean and organized, and you will thank yourself later.

- Cook. Preparing and freezing meals is such a huge help for yourself. Dinner time is always one of the hardest times for babies and toddlers, and in our house, it is always one of the most busy times of the day. Having a bunch of family-friendly meals on hand that need nothing more than to be heated up is a lifesaver.

- Minimize. Newly adopted children, especially those adopted internationally, are often overwhelmed by all of the "stuff" the typical American family has. Many adoptive families report that their new kids are like "hurricanes" and that lots of stuff gets broken. Put away fragile items and things with a lot of sentimental value that could get broken. Have toys available that are durable and easy to share (such as blocks). Keep the clothes, toys and "stuff" available to your new child minimal at first to avoid overwhelming him.

- Get those projects done. If you have any big projects looming, get them done before our child comes home. Are your kids' closets begging to be gone through? Is your kitchen in dire need of a good, deep cleaning? Do you have any big work projects you need to complete? Get as much of your "to do" list done as you can before your child comes home so you can be as relaxed as possible and focus as much attention as possible on your family.

- Rest up. I know you can't store up sleep in your body like you can store up money in a bank, but since sleep will likely be a challenge in your child's early days home (whether it is due to jet lag, attachment, adjustment or whatever), try to go into your child's arrival as well rested as possible. If you are sleep deprived when your child arrives, you are not starting off in the best possible way.

Do you have a tip that helped you prepare for your child's homecoming? Leave a comment! :)