The status quo for many adoptive families is to adopt children younger than the children currently in the family. How many times have you heard the advice, “Don’t disrupt the pecking order?” There are many who feel strongly about never changing the pecking order. It might have negative psychological consequences on the current children. Or, maybe you have heard that older children will negatively influence your current children. Some people are afraid that older children may harm their younger children. Should families only adopt younger children?

Our family has... more

A couple of weeks ago we had an unplanned and unexpected sibling visit with two of my daughter’s older sisters. I mentioned in a previous blog how surprised and impressed I was with one older sister’s improved behavior. I asked her many questions as my 14-year-old daughter watched with mouth agape. However, that is not the only action we took. My daughter has always enjoyed riding our horses. However, she has not been allowed alone with the horses since the bad haircut incident. After the... more

We had a pleasant surprise this afternoon while attending open houses for graduation seniors. One of my daughters has a birth sibling graduating from high school this year. Of course, we were invited to the open house. We have maintained contact with him by having periodic visits and phone calls throughout the 11 years since their adoptions. We have done the same with the other four birth siblings as well, although we had more visits when the children were younger. There were six siblings, who were adopted by four separate families. When we arrived at the open house, two... more

You know your adopted baby is beginning to grow up when she begins copying her older siblings. Ami will be turning two years old in July and she idolizes most of her older siblings. Frequently, she is seen trying to be just like one of them. Whether, she is walking with her hands behind her back, echoing their exact words, or just following them around. When she sees them playing, she always wants to join in, and sometimes they let her. She is getting quite adept at assembling legos. However, today she cried for quite a while when she wasn't allowed to play Monopoly with... more

I've blogged ad nauseum about our youngest. His older sister was crazy about us from the first time she talked to us on the phone, but my youngest was not so sure. When we went to meet the kids, though he had fun, he had a “little pout” to his lip, according to his older sister, and my husband!

He was thoroughly attached to both of his foster parents, and still enjoys talking to them. He's a little conundrum, because he'll make friends quickly. So quickly, in fact, I... more

Celebrity Baby Blog is reporting that actor Maurice Bernard and his wife, Paula, have adopted her teen-aged sister following the death of her mother.

I remember watching Mr. Bernard on All My Children when I was in college in the early 80's. He's also native to the San Francisco Bay Area where I grew up. He's been an incredible champion of getting the word out about bi-polar disorder, which he suffers from, and though I don't have it, I have struggled with Dysthemia and... more

My youngest son has been sick and throwing up. In deconstructing our day, my husband asked me if I found a difference between cleaning up after our adopted siblings than I did our biological son. My answer was that I don’t like cleaning up after any of them!

But, the point I think he was trying to raise had to do with bonding with your adopted children. When we first went back to visit the kids, my youngest was having sinus issues that caused mucous to build up, thus he threw up then, too (he’s not a prolific barfer, it just so happens that this is what... more

With the fun of summer comes millions of annoying insects including mosquitoes. Mosquitoes not only bite and leave itching welts but they sometimes transmit serious diseases to their victims. Some diseases transmitted to people by mosquitoes are West Nile virus, malaria, and dengue fever. Your pets can get life-threatening heartworms from these nasty pests, as well. Here in the United States our risk of contracting diseases from mosquito bites are low. We can use insect repellents to help discourage their nasty bites and protect our pets with... more

I have been babysitting my grandchildren while their parents work during the day for the last few weeks. They are currently one and two years old. They are the children of my oldest daughter, now 25. She came to us as a 13 year old with her younger sibling and joined our forever family by the miracle of adoption at 15. My youngest daughter by the miracle of adoption is one year old and falls right in between the ages of my two granddaughters. The three little girls have always loved each other, but lately they have been becoming best friends.

In the morning when they first... more

What was I doing 25 years ago today and where was I doing it? That is an easy one. I was giving birth to my first born son. Actually, his time of birth in the evening was about the same as when I began typing this story. We were in Midland Texas during the oil boom for a few years, which included his birth. Many people flocked to West Texas during the boom because there were many jobs and lots of money. That was long before our adoption journey began. We parented close to a hundred children in the past 14 years hoping to adopt a baby girl through the Michigan foster care system.... more