April 27, 2018
Adoption and Parenting Reads of the Week
It’s Spring! How amazing is that? Bring on the warm weather and new beginnings.
We hope you’ve had a wonderful week, and that this roundup of adoption and parenting reads will bring a little something to your weekend. The lineup includes online resources for adoptive and foster parents, envisioning your family, theater as a savior for foster youth, a powerful piece about post-adoption depression and more.
Big hugs to you. We’ll see you tomorrow!
Estee Lauder Companies is now compensating adoptive parents $10,000 and giving 20 weeks of paid leave.
Online resources for adoptive and foster parents.
How do I help my family see my adoption the same way I do?
What does it mean to “envision” your family? “Do you have a vision of the characteristics of a child who would thrive in your family? You might be surprised to know that many adoptive parents tell us that the child they adopted was completely different from the one they set out to find. As one adoptive mother said about her son: “He was everything we never knew we wanted when we first envisioned our family. Had we not kept an open mind, we never would have found him.”
Real-world lessons: adopting a teenager from foster care.
“Dont push me out, push me forward.” “I had so much built-up anger and frustration that disrespecting teachers and fighting felt like the only way to release it. Because I’d been bullied, I didn’t want anyone picking on me or thinking I was weak, so I acted tough.”
“What I wish you understood about my international adoption.”
Why the arts can be a savior for foster youth.
How has adoption changed throughout the years?
What happens your “happily ever after” is dominated by post-adoption depression? “Most adoptive mothers I talk with feel confused and guilty when they feel sad and irritable after their long awaited child finally arrives–and the key words are long awaited. This is the child that we’ve worked years to get. This is the child that we’ve probably spent a huge chunk of our savings to get. This is a child that we’ve been studied and questioned by heaven-knows how many experts to get. Now that we finally have her, we should be overjoyed. Right? If instead of feeling euphoric, we feel depressed, angry, and not besotted with love, then there must be something wrong with us. Right?”