January 05, 2018
Adoption and Parenting Reads of the Week
Happy New Year!
Wow, 2017. You sure were something, and we’re not terribly sad to see you go. But there are high hopes for all we can achieve in 2018, that’s for sure.
Here is our first roundup of the new year, featuring all the parenting and adoption reads that caught our eye this week…as always, there is so much interesting content out there!
Big hugs to you, and we’ll see you Monday!
How to advocate for your child when no one is listening. “You start to wonder: “Will anyone ever listen to me?” The therapist won’t. The teacher won’t. The pediatrician won’t. They don’t think attachment disorders are real. They think you’re crazy for insisting that foods high in sugar, or containing food dyes, are triggers for your child’s behavior. They dismiss FASD as ADHD and hastily prescribe meds for treating it without really listening to your perspective. You’re lost. And you’re ready to quit. Again, rest assured…we’ve been there. You’re not alone. Not even close!”
Many adopted or fostered children come from traumatic backgrounds. Here are some valuable thoughts on how to understand trauma, as well as how you as a parent can help aid recovery.
If you’re planning on going through an adoption process this year…here are some excellent resolutions to help keep your sanity and happiness in check.
Why are we casting older foster youth aside? “We are trying to change a foster care culture that criminalizes, penalizes and discards our youth. We will never know the trauma of being removed from home. Or what it’s like to relive that trauma with each new placement. But we can help our youth to heal. We can show up and be the upstanding adults they never thought existed.”
Writing a letter to a child you’ve placed for adoption can be incredibly difficult. This compassionate and thoughtful guide can help you through the process and articulate something you feel proud of.
This story about a forgotten war orphan will tug at all your heartstrings.
Putin is angry about US adoption sanctions, and Russians orphans are paying the price. “But it wasn’t just would-be American parents who suffered. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Russian children who might have found families, and homes of their own, were forced to instead remain in Russia’s often overcrowded and underfunded orphanages and foster care institutions. Putin, in other words, hurt his own people too.”