Pam Connell's comments

Things You Need To Change When You Homeschool - Blog Entry

10 Jul 2008 04:45 PM

I guess this is one of my major concerns about possibly homeschooling, especially since instead of starting from scratch I would be shifting kids who've already been in school for several years.

My daughter has a learning disability. I once commented to a teacher friend that at when she was first placed in our home I was able to be objective , but six months later I was convinced she was a genius. I'll never forget my friend's reply: "That's the way you ought to feel. You're her mother. Let everyone else worry about what's wrong with her, and by all means accept their help. You just go on believing she's a genius."

I guess my fear is that my daughter has such difficulty with school that I wonder if teaching her myself might be akin to pediatricians giving their own kids shots, which most of them won't do.

On the other hand, it just occurred to me as I was writing this, that there could be worse things than having someone who believes you're a genius for your teacher...

Preparing for a Family Reunion - Blog Entry

30 Jun 2008 09:28 PM

That's great--my daughters also have an uncle (my brother-in-law) who is adopted. His siblings were also adopted and his sister adopted a son two years ago. Although they are all Caucasian, it is still neat that my kids' cousins will grow up thinking adoption is just a normal part of their world (for my nieces, three of their four cousins are adopted as well as their dad, uncle and aunt. We joke that someday we'll worry about our birth son being teased because he's not adopted.

My brother-in-law's family talked about adoption a lot less, perhaps b/c of not needing to since everybody more or less "matched".

Book Review: Adoption is a Family Affair--What Family and Friends Must Know - Blog Entry

30 Jun 2008 06:32 PM

Thanks shgarg for your nice comment--I'm glad it was helpful.

Thanks for sharing your story Central OR Mom--it may help some other relative from blurting it out! Maybe she was just worried about your daughter? (or we can hope or pretend so?)

I know a few international adoption programs that do expect you to stop the process if you get pregnant. One person realized it just before her travel date to pick up the child they'd been matched with several months before. She'd had several miscarriages so her doctor advised her to just keep it quiet. She did have a baby about eight months after they brought their son home.

I've wondered how it would have been if she'd known a few weeks earlier, just the point where they were really committed to the son they'd being seeing reports and pictures of for a few months, but so far along that it really couldn't be kept from the social worker...

Other Adoption Loss Scenarios - Blog Entry

26 Jun 2008 07:50 PM

Thanks Adam; I hope to hear more comments from you--on this post or any of the Adoption Blog!

Adoption Loss: Legal-Risk Placements - Blog Entry

26 Jun 2008 09:44 AM

Note: I want to emphasize that many children in foster care already have had their parental rights terminated and are legally free for adoption at the time of placement. This blog about legal-risk placements is not representative of all placements from the foster care system.

Interview: Adopting from Ethiopia and Liberia - Blog Entry

15 Jun 2008 12:27 AM

Congratulations Mama--Wacap has a great reputation.

Resources for Responding to Racism - Blog Entry

15 Jun 2008 12:25 AM

Hi "Mama", welcome to the blog--I hope to hear more of your opinions and more about your family!

Return to Pooh Corner - Kenny Loggins - CD Review - Blog Entry

12 Jun 2008 02:53 AM

I played the song, "Return to Pooh Corner" to tell my husband that I was pregnant with our first child. My mother-in-law had given me his old Pooh Bear toy previously, and when my husband was little the family sometimes called him "Pooh" and his brother "Tigger".

Abortion and Adoption: What Her Mom Did - Blog Entry

20 May 2008 04:48 PM

Angie, thanks--everyone handles these decisions differently but it was still so good to hear another mom say that I handled it beautifully! Made my day.

An Intro and An Update - Blog Entry

20 May 2008 04:41 PM

I remember being fascinated by that book in school too!