Parenting the Adoptive or Foster Child
Articles on birth family connections, behavior, and many others issues adoptive and foster parents deal with on a daily basis.
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Prepare for Parenting - How Did You Prepare for Parenting Before Your…
I've been thinking about how adoptive parents prepare for parenting. Did the new family think to prepare to parent? This reminds me of another joyous occasion – weddings. Many young couples spend so much time planning their weddings that they forget to plan their marriages. It just doesn’t all end with the trip down the aisle. It’s the same with adoption or foster care; it doesn't end with …Culture - How Do You Make Your Child's Birth Culture a Part of his Ev…
Take a moment to share your parenting tips for helping the interracially adopted or fostered child maintain a healthy connection to his or her birth culture. Sometimes it's the little things like observing a holiday. It may even be the big moments like a trip back to their birth country. Whatever it is, share with our community how you helped a child keep their birth culture a part of e…7 Fun Ways to Celebrate the Chinese New Year with Your Child
The Chinese New Year is a great holiday to choose to celebrate Chinese culture with your child. Here are few fun ways to bring a bit of fun and culture into your home through the festivities of the Chinese New Year.Holiday Season - How Do You Prepare Your Foster Children for the Holi…
Holidays are usually centered around "family." Foster children are separated from their families yet are reminded of family at almost all holiday gatherings. Add on the fact that holidays are also an extremely busy time of the year and you may have a great recipe for chaos. How do you prepare your foster children for the holiday season?The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute: Beyond Culture Camp
The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute released its latest report November 2009, which is assuming to be the largest study to date on the identity development of adopted adults in the United States and their sense of culture.Lifebook Tips - Share Your Favorite Tips or Best Ideas for Helping a …
Some foster care agencies require that foster parents help foster children maintain a lifebook. But we know that a lifebook is also very helpful for adopted children. What are some of your favorite tips or best ideas for working on a lifebook with a foster or adopted child?Rude Comments - What Hurtful or Rude Questions and Comments Have You …
Many foster and adoptive parents have had to handle rude comments and rude questions regarding their children. Often things are being said by adults, not school children, like usual. Share yur favorite rude or hurtful comment.What Is a Cover Story and How Can It Help Foster Children?
Cover Stories are just that - stories to provide cover or protection. Using cover stories is not about telling lies, it's about keeping information private that could be used to tease and harass. By doing so we are trying to create the best possible environment for our foster children.Make a Copy of Your Foster or Adopted Child's Lifebook
Make a copy of your foster or adopted child's lifebook to help preserve their memories. There are many reasons to copy the child's lifebook.Best Ideas to Complete a Lifebook for Your Adopted or Foster Child
A lifebook can be a great healing tool for a foster or adopted child. Some children move so often due to the foster care system or failed adoptions, that much of their life is lost. A lifebook tells the story of a child's life, from birth through each foster or adoptive placement. It tells the truth. It is reality.What Not to Put into a Foster or Adopted Child's Lifebook
It may seem like a daunting task, putting together a lifebook for a foster or adopted child. It may bring up emotions of past grief and loss for the child. One question that seems to come up a lot is, "Are there things I shouldn't put into a child's lifebook?"Parenting Skills - What Parenting Skills or Techniques Have You Found…
I train PS-MAPP classes with a foster/adoptive parent friend. She calls parenting skills her "bag of tricks" or a "buffet of discipline" and she will tell you that she likes to have numerous ideas ready to go when needed. So, what parenting skills are in your bag of tricks? What is being served from your buffet of discipline? Share your parenting skills and tips with other foster/adoptive parents.Summer Fun with the Kids
Remember when we were kids and summer fun meant nothing fancy or expensive? Summer is the perfect time to teach foster or adoptive kids some great summer fun activities that they may have been missing out on. In case you've forgotten, here is a quick list of some great summer fun and inexpensive summer activities.First Few Weeks Home with a New Adopted Child
One of the most often asked questions I get hit with after teaching a new batch of foster and adoptive parents is, "What about those first few days in our home? How do we help the child feel comfortable?" Adding to our home and family is such a personal experience, it's natural that we want the child to feel comfortable and welcome. We as parents want to feel that we are not missing anything and that we are doing a good job. Here are a few ideas on how to do that.First Few Weeks Home with a New Foster Child
One of the most often asked questions I get hit with after teaching a new batch of foster and adoptive parents is, "What about those first few days in our home? How do we help the child feel comfortable?" Adding to our home and family is such a personal experience, it's natural that we want the child to feel comfortable and welcome. We as parents want to feel that we are not missing anything and that we are doing a good job. Here are a few ideas on how to do that.Activities for Kids in Foster Care
Ideas to help keep your kids busy during breaks from school. Saving your sanity and giving them something to do.How to Create a Connection with Your Foster or Adopted Child
Building a connection with your child can take a lifetime, but it's worth the effort. We know as foster or adoptive parents that if a child can connect to one person, than that child can grow and have a connection with other important people in his or her life.Meeting Your New Foster Child
New foster parents often struggle with that first day. Learn some tips on how to handle the first meeting and day one with your new foster child.10 Things to do When Your Foster Children Don’t Get Along
What do you do when your foster care children don't get along? How can you establish peace within your foster home? Here are 10 ideas to help when doing foster care.How Have You Created a Connection with Your Foster or Adoptive Child?
Creating a connection with your foster or adopted child is part of parenting. Sometimes, it just doesn't happen naturally and we may need some ideas from other foster parents or adoptive parents. When it comes to older children, a connection can take a bit more work.Foster Parents Often Foster the Whole Family
Fostering connections with the birth family is extremely important to family reunification and foster parents are a part of the process. Ideas to help form a bond between foster parents and birth familyWhen Foster Parents First Meet Birth Family
Fostering connections with the birth family is extremely important to family reunification. Find ideas to help form a bond between foster parents and birth family.Why Choose an Open Adoption?
An open adoption is an adoptive family and birth family keeping in contact for the benefit of a child. While it can be a tricky arraignment it is often in the child's best interest. However there are pros and cons to choosing an open adoption.To Add a Child or Not to Add a Child - Timing May be the Answer
Foster and adoptive parents need to discuss many factors before deciding if it is the right time to add a child to the family. A time of many transitions may signal that it is the wrong time for a family.What Is Developmental Grieving?
What is developmental grieving in foster care and adopted children? What are some times to be aware of as grieving triggers as we parent these children?How to Bond with Your Teen Foster & Adopted Son
Fast and easy activities to promote bonding between you and your teen foster or adopted son. These activities also include ideas that incorporate physical touch.How to Bond with Your Teen Foster & Adopted Daughter
Fast and easy activities to promote bonding between you and your teen foster or adopted daughter. These activities also include ideas that incorporate physical touch.A Typical Fathers Day May Mean Something Different for Foster Fathers
A typical fathers day may mean something different for a foster or adoptive father. So, what is a day in the life of a foster or adoptive father like?Parenting with the Five Love Languages
Utilizing the five love languages developed by Dr. Gary Chapman, may be a wonderful way to build attachment and bonding within your newly adoptive or foster family.What Are the Five Love Languages?
Learn more about the book, The Five Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman. Utilizing the five love languages may be a wonderful way to build attachment and bonding within your newly adoptive or foster family.Father Daughter Relationship and Father Son Relationship - Sharing S…
The About.com Adoption & Foster Care readers share their thoughts on fathers and the importance of a father son relationship as well as a father daughter relationship. These are the words from members regarding birth, adoptive, and step fathers and their relationships.Mulligan Family Open Up About Their Russian Adoptions
After the Mulligans were interviewed on 20/20 regarding their difficult journey as adoptive parents to three Russian children, many had more questions. I got to speak to the family for 3 hours and the Mulligans cleared up some misconceptions about them, their children and Russian adoption.20/20's "From Russia With Love — Dealing With Difficult Adoptions"
20/20 interviewed the Mulligan family who adopted Margarita and her sister Elena from Russia when they were 11 and 8 years old in July 2004. Soon after bringing their girls home they adopted a 4-year-old little boy named Sasha also from Russia. They renamed him Slater. The family’s adoption is 4-years-old now and the oldest and youngest children in the family are struggling with multiple diagnosis'sWhy is Physical Touch so Important to Children & Teens?
Physical touch is very important to the health and development of infants and babies. Is physical touch still important to older children?Coping with an Open Adoption
Any relationship can be tricky, however very few relationships will be as tricky as those within an open adoption. An open adoption may be one of the most important relationships in your and your child's life.All About Open Adoption
Open adoptions can be very beneficial to children. As is the case with many decisions in life, there are pros and cons to choosing an open adoption. There is always much to learn.What Are the Cons of an Open Adoption?
An open adoption has many pros and cons. Here is the list of cons for open adoption.What Are the Pros of Having an Open Adoption?
Open adoptions can be very beneficial to children. As is the case with many decisions in life, there are pros and cons to choosing an open adoption. Here are the pros of open adoptions.When Is an Open Adoption Not a Good Idea?
There are times when an open adoption is not in the best interest of a child. This is usually due to safety issues and is often the case in foster care adoptions.What Is an Open Adoption?
What is an open adoption? What constitutes contact in an open adoption? Gain some ideas for contact within an open adoption.When a Child's Behavior Threatens the Adoptive Family
Dealing with child behavior problems is one of the issues faced by adoptive parents. Many children suffer from behavior problems. Gain some ideas on how to handle them and protect your family.A New Study Looks at Troubled Teens
Troubled teens that were infants when adopted domestically suffer from more mental health needs than non-adopted teens. Internationally adopted teens fair much better than domestic adopted teens. An interesting study looks at troubled teens.Preparing Your Child for Contact with Birth Family
While it can be a tricky arraignment, an open adoption is often in the child's best interest. However there are pros and cons to choosing an open adoption and your child must be prepared.Reluctant to Be a Dad
Some men are afraid to become an adoptive or foster parent. How to help your man ease into fatherhood.Celebrating Father's Day for Adoptive, Foster & Birth Fathers
Nothing brings tears to my eyes like the song by Holly Dunn, Daddy's Hands. Nothing gets to my husband like the song by Bob Carlisle, Butterfly Kisses. There is just an extra special connection that most kids have with their fathers and fathers with their kids. So, celebrating Father's Day has got to be extra special.
How to Open a Closed Adoption
With a minor child, adoptive parents are still very much a part of the process of opening a closed adoption or starting an adoption reunion. The process will include the following on the part of the adoptive parent:
- open communication that involves listening
- flexibility
- being aware of own feelings
Don’t be surprised when feelings of jealousy and some…