Search Results for: blog traits of foster children

Another Book for Middle-Grade Boys!

Posted on by

Mike Lupica is fast becoming as well-known for his middle-grade novels—in particular, the Comeback Kids series– as for his sports writing and broadcasting. Safe at Home is a book about baseball, friends, parents’ expectations, and fitting in. The main character, Nick, was adopted from foster care when he was nine. This underlies and explains many of his reactions to things. Lupica manages to convey to the reader how Nick’s experiences have influenced his perception of things without making the story all about adoption. As I said, it’s a baseball story. Descriptions of the plays and of the relationships among teammates … Continue reading →

Book Review: How it Feels to be Adopted

Jill Krementz is a writer and artist known for her simple but powerful black and white photographs and for the word portraits which accompany them. She has written the series “A Very Young..[Dancer, Musician, Gymnast,] and also the series “How it Feels..[to have a Physical Disability, to be Fighting for Your Life, When Parents Divorce]. How it Feels to Be Adopted contains the stories of 19 children, told in their own words and accompanied by photographs. As with my last review, Why Was I Adopted?, I hesitated to read this book because it is twenty years old. Like Why Was … Continue reading →

Jambo (Hello) to a New Line of Six Character Dolls Who were Adopted

In Friday’s blog, promised that I would do a positive blog on dolls. Last year, I wrote about dolls for kids of different ethnicities in my blog Toys and Dolls for Multicultural Families. Yesterday I reminded parents that while it is good to have a doll that reflects your child, not every doll needs to “match”. This year I can share with you some doll characters with different family constellations. Jambo Kids are school-age dolls. They are soft-bodied dolls about 12 inches high. A book is available for each doll. The website tells a little bit about each of the … Continue reading →

Intellect is Not all Inherited

Posted on by

There are some things that no matter how hard you try you simply cannot change about people or children. For example, you cannot change a person’s genetic make-up. Some things are given to us at birth and are nonnegotiable. For years the debate has existed to determine if a child’s intellect is one of these unchangeable aspects. However, studies since then have shown us that intellect may be influenced by much more than the genes and traits given to us by our parents. It seems that the environment that a child interacts in also plays a part. For example a … Continue reading →

“Aging Out”: No Home for the Holidays

In this season where so many of us try to go “home for the holidays”, an often-invisible but increasingly large group of young adults literally has no home to go home to. A report released this year by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative says that the number of children “aging out” of foster care (turning 18 before being adopted or safely reunited with family members) has increased by 41% in the last ten years. Picture a teen-ager you care about—a son or daughter, nephew or niece, neighbor, supermarket clerk, whomever. Now imagine that on his … Continue reading →

Can “Humbleness” Be Taught?

Some of my favorite people in the world have been very humble sorts. Humble as in modest and full of humility. I’ve always wrestled a bit with humbleness myself–not sure where modesty stops and self pity and martyrdom starts! Or where self-esteem turns into obnoxious bragging. But, I’ve hoped to nurture and foster humbleness in my children (and, hopefully, nurture it along in myself at the same time). Perhaps humbleness is a character trait that can be taught–encouraging our kids to develop an appreciation for the fact that everyone has unique gifts and challenges and none are “better” or more … Continue reading →

Saving the World

Posted on by

I have written a number of blogs which describe the traits that potential adoptive parents of special needs children might want to have. It is time to write about an attitude that will make it harder to adopt. If you think that you will be able to “change the world”, you can expect to have your sails trimmed. I am more than familiar with this attitude. My wife and I launched into many a project knowing that we would be able to conquer any problem that appeared. Fortunately, we had already discovered by the time that we were ready to … Continue reading →

The Fantasy Child (Part 5)

Adopting an older child is differet than giving birth or adopting a newborn. Everyone involved in the creation of the new family has had time to daydream and think about their personal expectations. But, what can be done to help an adoptive family avoid the disappointment of things not living up to their expectations? Transition and becoming a new family is hard for everyone involved. But, parents have to be parents and take charge of the things they can control. As adults we can’t let our daydreams and imagination get in the way. It is exciting to dream but, we … Continue reading →