My Passion Has Changed

Since my wife and I adopted five boys, the things that I have a passion for have changed significantly. My passions before were for the things that most people are passionate about. I have discovered that doing the task that I have chosen consumes my sentiments, emotions, and excitement. For the last fifty years, I have been very passionate about sports. I would plan all of my activities around the “big game”. My allegiance to the sports teams of my alma mater has consumed much of my time and emotions. This year, I did not know which teams were in … Continue reading →

Care of African American Children in Transracial Adoptions: Different Skin Colors

Ed Paul and I dialogue regularly about Care of African American Children in Transracial Adoptions. While I have little experience in being adopted, I have tons of experience in being African American. This week, we discussed how to handle conversations (that the kids may bring up) about different skin colors. Being from a large extended step family, I experienced this problem growing up. Ed asked me to share my advice and experiences. Ed mentioned a comment one of his children made which I will address: Once, Matthew (has African American features) said as they were getting out of the shower, … Continue reading →

Black Males Are Lagging Academically

A school board member at Houston’s largest school system has noticed the discouraging state statistics showing that African American males are lagging behind all other demographic groups academically. He checked the records in Houston and found that black males were scoring at or near the lowest levels in every course and at every grade level. This fact is something that almost everyone in educational circles knows, but few are actually talking about. He has a plan to try and turn the situation around in Texas. His plan is called the Texas Minority Male Youth Initiative. He hopes to stir up … Continue reading →

Care of African American Children in Transracial Adoptions: When You need a Stylist

Previously, In this series of articles on care of African American children in transracial adoptions, I have discussed winter skincare, summer skincare, and basic hair care. I am not discussing advanced hair care problems for African American children. Mixed raced hair care, and care of long hair were discussed in a previous article. While caring for the hair of your African American child can be binding experience, there will be a time when you should call a stylist. Hair Problems: Sometimes in spite of doing everything by the book, your child will still have problems with their hair. These problems … Continue reading →

Care of African American Children in Transracial Adoptions: Caring for Long Hair

Previously, In this series of articles on care of African American children in transracial adoptions, I have discussed winter skincare, summer skincare, and basic hair care. I am now discussing advanced hair care problems for African American children. One of these is mixed raced hair care, which was dicussed in a previoius article. Next, I want to address care of long hair of African American Children in Transracial Adoption. African Americans, typically do not have very long hair due to the fragile nature of our hair. Therefore, anything shoulder length or longer is considered long. Here are the special things … Continue reading →

Care of African American Children in Transracial Adoptions: Mixed Race Hair Care

Previously, In this series of articles on care of African American children in transracial adoptions, I have discussed winter skincare, summer skincare, and basic hair care. It is not time to discuss advanced hair care problems for African American children. Let us talk abut “Good hair”. (Notice the quotation marks. ) Most African Americans have hair that is called kinky or nappy. Others however may have what is often referred to as “good hair”. This simply means the hair is easier to comb and has a looser curl than the average black person’s hair. This good hair is usually a … Continue reading →

Finally, An Ethnic Question That I Can Answer

I have written a lot about trying to teach myself an African American studies course as I raise four boys whose ethnicity requires that I get myself up to date. I was finally asked an ethnic related question by my oldest adopted son that was a snap to answer. In fact, I was able to convince him that I am an expert on the subject. We were driving into Houston for an appointment with one of his doctors. We go back and forth over who has control of the radio; he had won out this day. We were listening to … Continue reading →

Care of African American Children in Transracial Adoptions: Basic Hair care

In my previous two articles, I wrote about winter skincare and summer skincare and for African American Children in transracial adoptions. I will now address how to take care of hair that is different from your own. Generally, Negroid hair works in the opposite way as Caucasoid hair. While a black person’s hair loves oil, a white person’s hair will hate oil. I have actually joked that you could rub a black person’s hair together with a white person’s hair to get a perfect oil balance in each, as the black person’s hair will absorb the excess oil from the … Continue reading →

Care of African American Children in Transracial Adoptions: Summer Skincare

When I communicated with Ed Paul, adoption blogger here are families.com about giving advice to parents of transracially adopted African American Children, he made several requests. One of those requests was for skincare advice. I already wrote about winter skincare treatment. Now I will address summer skincare. Summer skincare for African American children is similar to winter skincare, as you need to seal in moisture after bathing. It is different however in the fact that heavy creams and lotions will melt in the sun and harm the skin. Therefore, you need a light moisturizer. I find that baby oil and … Continue reading →

Care of African American Children in Transracial Adoptions: Winter Skincare

Long before I ever began blogging, I have wanted to talk about this subject. I remember the first time I noticed a white mother pushing a little black baby in a shopping cart, I wanted to run over to her and give her words of encouragement, and some hair care tips to boot. (Some of my fellow employees pointed and stared, and the baby’s hair was a mess). I am going to save those two subjects for later and start with something a bit closer to my heart… skincare. Adoption blogger Ed Paul, tells me that skincare is an issue … Continue reading →