I can’t believe it has been over a month since I have posted a blog. It feels good to sit down and write another entry … and yet, I have been so insanely busy that I haven’t had a moment to even think about the blog, much less write it. Let me tell you what has happened in my life this past month …

My last entry showed you a photo of the used (but new to us) horse trailer my husband and I recently purchased. We traveled to Indiana to retrieve the trailer. Ten minutes after leaving the trailer lot, we stopped to get gas, and being unfamiliar with the (non-existent) turning radius of the trailer,... more

In late November, I wrote this blog entry and discussed the fact that I needed a blogging break. Many of you concurred. I cut my blog entries in half in December, fully expecting to resume full speed ahead in January. It didn’t happen. Here we are, approaching the end of February, and I am still struggling to get posts written on a regular basis.

Perhaps it has something to do with the additional time and energy requirements imposed by adding Dora last fall. Perhaps it has to do with... more

I have received some excellent and thought-provoking comments about Dora’s brief stay in respite care while I had my surgery. I will answer the questions and respond to the comments in a post in the near future … but this morning I am compelled to address yet another school shooting tragedy. I was actually presenting a luncheon... more

Yesterday was spent traveling home to Kansas after my endoscopic surgical procedure in Indianapolis. I awoke this morning at 5 AM with a migraine—no surprise there, after general anesthetic, a little extra stress (although I wasn’t really worried about this at all) and a completely out-of-sync sleep schedule. My throat still hurts but it is better. I had dinner with my doctor the day after my surgery (he's a long time friend), and he mentioned he wasn’t sure the big tube... more

Other than the fact that my throat feels as if an entire army has marched over it, I am doing pretty well this morning after my gastric plication procedure yesterday. All my Propel tastes like anesthetic gas, but thankfully it is not as bad this morning as yesterday evening. I have done little but sleep since they put me out about 2 PM yesterday afternoon. I could easily put my computer down, crawl under the covers, and sleep some more right now … I have some slight discomfort... more

I’m writing this blog 500 miles away from home, sitting in a Red Roof Inn, hungry, and counting down the hours until I head to a local hospital today for an endoscopic procedure that will hopefully go a long way towards correcting the severe gastric reflux problem I have battled for years. I will get general anesthetic today, rather than “twilight sleep” which is what I experienced when I was “scoped” last fall.

Although Beth is with us, Dora is not. It is easy to bring Beth’s homeschooling. Dora... more

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

A reader posted a very good and very perplexing question yesterday. She is a therapist, working with a young teen girl whose brother is struggling with Reactive Attachment Disorder. The therapist asks,

“How can I help her deal with the anger, confusion and fear?”

I can’t tell you how much I wish there was a clear, concise, effective answer to this question. However, I know of no magic bullet for this. I have had... more

Completing my series covering my interview with Andrew Bridge, author of Hope’s Boy, I asked Andrew how he felt a child’s individual choices influenced the child’s trajectory. Here is Andrew’s response:

I don’t know how to answer that question. I can tell you that my gut says we spend far too much time pathologizing children rather than looking for their strengths and what they can do. I am usually critical of large congregate care (group homes) especially for younger kids. I actually... more