I personally love Black Friday shopping. It's become a tradition for me and my sisters. We call it enjoying the "hustle and bustle of the season." We're dorky like that. We also enjoy a good deal. We're cheap like that.

But not everyone likes to get out in the elements and deal with Scrooges and Grinches and others with hearts 2 sizes too small. For the rest of the holiday gift givers out there, whether you love Black Friday or Cyber Monday - here is a great holiday shopping list from your About.com Parenting Guides:

Parenting Teens
Over 50 Holiday Gift Ideas for Teens

Fatherhood
Gifts for Gadget Hungry Dads

Gifts for the Sportsman Dad
Gifts for the Traveling Dad

Family Crafts
Top Gifts for Crafters

Family Fitness
Active Toys for the Whole Family
Active Toys for Preschoolers
Active Toys for School-Age Kids
12 Active Toys for Stuffing Stockings

Tweens
What Tweens Want

Working Moms
Cheap Gift Ideas for the Whole Family

Baby Products
2008 Holiday Baby Gift Guide

Gifts for College Kids & 20somethings
2008 Stocking Stuffers for College Kids
2008 Holiday Gifts Under $30 for College Kids
Holiday Gifts for College Kids ($30-$150)

Twins & Multiples
Hot Holiday Toys for Twins 2008
2 for 1 Toys for Twins
3 for 1 Toys for Triplets
Toys with Multiple Appeal - Toys that Multiples Can Share
Twin Dolls
Gifts for Moms of Multiples
Gifts for Dads of Multiples

Kids TV & Movies
Top DVDs for Preschoolers - 2008

Preschoolers
Top Toys for Preschoolers
Top Inexpensive Teacher Gifts

Work-at-Home Moms
Work-at-Home Mom Gift Guide
Books for Work-at-Home Families

Accessories
Gifts for Her
Gifts for Him
What to Wear for the Holidays

Adoption & Foster Care
Top Adoption Jewelry
Adoption Ornaments Make Great Gifts
Top Adoption Clothing

Set your digital recorders for ABC tonight for Find My Family. From the same producer as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Find My Family promises to be a roller coaster ride of emotion. As someone who has been a part of an adoption reunion, I can believe it.

According to ABC's Web site, this is a 6-episode series and it seems to be focusing on reuniting those separated by adoption. The show is narrated by and stars 2 adoptees who work with the family that is searching and the found family to prepare them for the reunion.

Sounds lovely - right? Well, some in the adoption community do not agree with the show based on some of the wording used in the trailers. "Let's find your family" is one sentence that is grating to the Center for Adoption Policy (CAP). They stated that while they support adoption reunion, they feel that the producers of Find My Family have forgotten that adoptees already have families - adoptive families.

Are adoptive families being too sensitive or is this a real concern?

Look for a sneak peek of Find My Family tonight on ABC 9:30, Eastern and Pacific times; 8:30, Central time.

Bring your thoughts back to the blog. I'm anxious to hear your thoughts - from all sides of the triad.

_{Source:
ABC.com}

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Suggested Reading:

Review of Find My Family
Adoption Reunion and the Adoptive Family How Should the Adoptive Family Feel?
My Adoption Reunion Story
Before You Enter Into an Adoption Reunion - for the Adoptee
Before You Enter Into an Adoption Reunion - for Birth Parents

November 21, 2009, marks the 10th year for National Adoption Day. Through the help of adoption professionals, child advocates, judges, and attorneys, thousands of children in foster care will finalize their adoptions and become part of a permanent home and family. The goals for this National Adoption Day include:

• Finalize adoptions from foster care in all 50 states
• Celebrate and honor all families that adopt
• Raise awareness about the 129,000 children in foster care waiting for adoption
• Encourage others to adopt children from foster care
• Build collaboration among local adoption agencies, courts and advocacy organizations

I hope that this National Adoption Day is as successful as the year before. Don't forget to spread the good news with an awesome adoption announcement!

How are you celebrating National Adoption Day?

The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute has released the results of a new study regarding interracial adoption. Beyond Culture Camp: Promoting Healthy Identity Formation in Adoption findings may surprise you. Then again - maybe they won't.

The report focused on two-parent, White adoptions of 179 South Korean adoptees and the 156 Caucasian adoptees out of the 468 adopted adults that completed surveys.

I found this report extremely fascinating because of the experiences we've had with culture and adoption. My sister was adopted into a bi-racial home - White/Hispanic. She told me that growing up she assumed that she too was bi-racial. That is the culture she identified with best. She thought that upon meeting her birth family she would discover that she was bi-racial. Nope. To my knowledge, Caucasian only. I wonder how that impacted her identity or did the adoption reunion itself fill in the needed pieces because now - she no longer has to guess or assume?

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Suggested Reading:
My Adoption Reunion Story
Beyond Culture Camp: Promoting Healthy Identity Formation in Adoption
Why Choose an Open Adoption?