I would guess that anyone reading this blog would know what the word orphan meant. Most of us would state it means a child without parents, although Answers.com clarifies it to mean a child whose parents are dead. Answers.com lists a second definition as a child who has been deprived of parental care and has not been adopted.

Another definition is one that lacks support, supervision, or care.

All of the above definitions are nouns. Answers.com... more

In my recent interview with Andrew Bridge, we discussed respite care and the problem of finding appropriate solutions for kids who can’t or won’t maintain a placement. One of the solutions I discussed with Andrew is something I heard about a few years ago. It is called Circle of Families, and it is (was?) an innovative idea proposed by Rick... more

I didn’t get this written in a very timely fashion today because I spent most of the morning on the telephone. For 90 minutes I spoke with Andrew Bridge, author of Hope’s Boy. Before making my next telephone appointment, I paid the guy who brought me more firewood and dealt with the fitness tech who (partially) repaired our treadmill. (It doesn’t elevate now … oh darn. I never liked that anyway!) My next phone call was with Jeff Katz, the driving force behind Listening to... more

Today I would like to continue with my discussion about Listening to Parents, the report and website designed to address the disconnect between parents wanting to adopt children in foster care and the agencies responsible for finding families for those children. Nancy Deren, one of my blog readers, commented on the report. Her experience... more

I spent the weekend reading Andrew Bridge’s book, Hope’s Boy, while hanging out in the crash area at Beth’s 3-day swim meet. (She had a great meet, by the way!) I will be blogging my review of Andrew’s book later this week, and I will hopefully include excerpts from my phone conversation with him, scheduled for a couple of days from now. It’s a great book and raised some interesting questions for me. I am anxious to hear Andrew’s responses.

Flooding my inbox from various listserves and newsletters that I regularly... more

It has been an insane day thus far. Dora awoke in a foul mood (come to think about it, she went to bed that way, too!); Beth is exhausted from a really tough swim practice last night, and therefore quite grumpy; Best Buy canceled my umpteenth repair on my washing machine and rescheduled for Friday (the washer is now working, but the “new” drain pump they installed vibrates something fierce, so they are going to replace it again—and this makes me grumpy!); and lastly I spent time on the phone this morning with a majorly stressed out mom.

The tearful mom is a local gal,... more

My topic this last couple of days has been PTSD, with the emphasis on parental PTSD because of living with toxic children. My intent was to write about how I survived living in a war zone for decades. However, I am going to postpone that a day or two in favor of addressing the PTSD our children bring with them into our homes—how their past becomes our present.

My latest issue of Reader’s Digest arrived in my mailbox this week. In it, I found a story about Andrew Bridge, a former foster child who attended Harvard Law School and now advocates for foster children.... more

A couple of weeks ago I was on television discussing the Baby Max case that grabbed media attention in Missouri.

There was supposed to be another hearing the next day, but until this morning, no one had heard a word about the outcome of that hearing. This morning I learned that Baby Max would be returned to the Stocklaufers. Apparently, one of the issues in this case involved the legalities of the... more

This article in Newsweek crossed my desk this morning, and I just had to bring it to your attention. I have tried repeatedly to post a comment but can’t seem to get through. Perhaps some of you can wade through all the comments from all the other struggling parents and offer them a hand of support?

The article is about a mom who is now in prison for the murder of her adopted daughter from Eastern Europe. The mom snapped after 18 months of trying to parent her preschool-aged child. It goes without saying—but I will... more

Beth and I fluffed up and headed downtown for my television interview this morning, and Dora started her day a little earlier by hanging out with a neighbor. For someone who used to wear mascara to go do middle-of-the-night colic checks while in vet school (least anyone see me with “no eyes”), I have come a long way, baby! Putting make-up on these days is a real chore. But I managed …

The interview went well, I think, but you can form your own opinion by checking... more