The new school year is almost upon us, and for many of us, it may have already begun. It marks the return to reality and for so many of our kids (and ourselves) a wave of emotions begins to arise at the thought of returning. Some of you may be ready to celebrate the return to quieter days, and others may feel sadness at the thought of summer coming to an end. Whether we have ... Read More
Foster Parent’s Take Strike! 7 Facts We Want You to Know! (Part II)
Last post I began our strike notice with the first 4 facts foster parents want you to know. Today, I continue with the last 3 and hopefully help foster a new understanding of the journey we walk. 5. Children are Not Resilient Many professionals are quick to throw around the term "resilient" when it comes to children experiencing trauma, neglect, abuse, and multiple ... Read More
Foster Parent’s Take Strike! 7 Facts We Want You To Know! (Part 1)
The time has come for Foster Parent's to take strike. Daniel and I signed up to become foster parents nearly 13 years ago. We were just a couple of naive but passionate newly weds, parenting our newly adopted infant son. We had hopes and dreams of becoming long term foster parents, starting off as safe baby foster home for prenatally exposed infants, and eventually moving ... Read More
Meeting My Child’s Mother
Several weeks ago we had a momentous event in our family. We met my son's birth mom. It was amazing, wonderful and filled with more emotions than I could have ever imagined. Rewind to almost 14 years ago when we first began our adoption journey. We were only 19 and 20 years old at the time and just babies ourselves. In our adoption training session they had originally asked ... Read More
I Still Hug Your Teddy Bear
***Disclaimer: This post is focused on the perspective of a foster parent and what a foster parent goes through. It does not touch at all on birth parents and their feelings, or even the children, and is not meant to be a discussion on children returning home. Those are very important topics, but for another post. Instead, this is meant to look at the emotions a ... Read More
Concurrent Adoption
Daniel and I had been adoptive and foster parents for roughly 3 years before we decided to expand our family once again. Mathieu was 3, Robby was 2 and Alaina had just turned 1 years old. We didn't have any other foster placements at the time so we figured it was a good time to begin. We pondered between a regular Ministry adoption, like the one we did with Mathieu, or a ... Read More
Post-Adoption Depression: You Are Not Alone
Recently I was speaking with another adoptive mom who was asking questions about adoption post-partum depression. It’s a taboo topic that is not often discussed in or outside adoption circles. Why, you may ask? Well because adoption is all unicorns and rainbows of course, where adoptive parents should be thankful to have been blessed with a child and be feeling nothing but ... Read More
Good Bye My Daughter
This is an excerpt from an article I wrote the day before my foster daughter left to return home. The emotions were raw and I still miss her to this day, but not much has changed in how I feel when a child leaves my home. ... Read More