July 27, 2018
Adoption and Parenting Reads of the Week
Happy Friday!
Do we have an over-parenting crisis? Did you know mothers in Hungary can get up to three years of paid maternity leave? How do you feel about dating site technology being used to find homes for foster children? These topics and more are featured in this week’s roundup!
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How does adoption affect biological children?
Valuable tips for safeguarding your marriage while raising a child with special needs.
4 true facts about open adoption.
Do we have an over-parenting crisis? “We parents are overprotecting, overdirecting and doing a lot of hand-holding, ostensibly in furtherance of kids’ safety — physical, emotional — and security — emotional, academic, reputational, professional, financial. But also in furtherance of our own ego. Our kid becomes chronologically adult but still expects us to tell them what to do and how to do it, and is bewildered by the prospect of having to fend for themselves as an actual independent human. God help them when we are gone.”
13 surprising things about parenting in Hungary. “In Hungary, depending on the mother’s field of work and how long she was at her job before having a baby, she can stay at home on a paid maternity leave for up to three years. During the first two years, she receives part of her previous salary. In the third year, only a small amount of assistance is provided — one couldn’t live off this alone, so not everyone takes it. After those three years, the mother’s last work place has to offer the position she left before giving birth. There is a debate if this system should be modernized, but it was a luxury for our family.”
Technology developed by the match-making website, eHarmony, is now being used to find foster homes for children. “Like the most intricate dating software, Family-Match’s algorithm is data based, determining the compatibility of both waiting children and the families hoping to adopt them across the state of Florida. Based on those compatibility factors, the system ranks the matches and alerts the child’s placement worker, who then reaches out to the identified families.”
Could vouchers end the culture war over adoption?
Adoption-friendly benefits in the workplace should be non-negotiable.
We love this video about how to communicate your child’s trauma to their school teachers. It’s important they know and understand these things.