I think we have written enough posts on this blog about being an older adoptive parent to have pretty much arrived at the conclusion that while being an older than average parent should not deter anyone from pursuing adoption, there is no holding back father time or mother nature. Fight it all we like, the signs of aging will eventually push forward onto the stage of parenting despite our every effort to keep it at bay, physically, psychologically, emotionally. What's a 40ish, 50is, 60ish and beyond mother to do when she still has relatively young children running about?

Aha! What about...cosmetic surgery? I wonder if there are any older parents who have gone to what some would consider... more

I haven’t read anything closely resembling an adult book in a very long time. K and I go to the library about once a week or so, and I browse the bookshelves in awe. Sometimes I even grab one or two, but inevitably they are returned unread a week or two later.

K has much more success reading. We come home from the library piled high with books on animals, ABC’s, and numbers. She loves books, and every afternoon, before nap time, we read three or maybe ten, of her favorites. She has some of them memorized,... more

Continued from last post………

I haven’t read anything closely resembling an adult book in a very long time…....

……Vanity Fair has become my fast magazine read of choice, -... more

Looking at all of the pictures from our vacation, I can only hope that the laughing, frollicking, joyful older mother in those pictures will grow into an equally joyful, frollicking, laughing grandmother in the years to come. I was 26 years old, when my mother was my age. I had been married in my first marriage for almost three years. Plenty of time to have started a family and made my mother a proud grandma at the age that I am now. Didn't happen.

When I look at our vacation pictures, I don't see a grandmother who could be enjoying her grandchildren. I... more

I have been boring everyone to tears with adventurous tales of our two week vacation in triple digit heat. Several people have looked at me like I was insane and asked how in the world any aspect of our trip really could have been that much fun. I knew what they were getting at. How could that have been much fun-at my age. One person even offered that there was no way in the world she could vacation for that long with three young children under foot and she wouldn't even want to-at her age. This particular woman is just two years older I am, but her children are all... more

Help! I need a vacation to recover from vacation. It has been nearly two weeks after returning from a two week long vacation with my family to Atlanta and I am still feeling slightly weary. Admitedly we pushed it a bit, ripping and running every single day while we were there from early in the morning until late at night. Still, I wonder, would having that much fun for twelve days straight sandwiched between two days of road travel have left me equally as exhausted had I been twenty years younger? Oh, and while I'm at it, I guess I should go ahead and question whether being twenty,okay twenty-five, pounds lighter might have made a difference as well.

The interesting thing is that I... more

Hubby threw some books in our daypack and we headed for the hills yesterday. Actually, those hills are a range of mountains over 14,000 feet, many of which I’ve hiked in my younger days.

We packed up some snacks, put CD’s in the car, ( a few children’s nursery rhymes as well as our selection of Bonnie Raitt, The Magnolia soundtrack, David Gray, The Subdudes, Los Lonely Boys, - well, an eclectic mix), and got off to a late start.

In a life not so long ago but way before children, we’d get... more

This came across my email this morning. I usually NEVER even read this stuff, never mind forward it, but I thought it was pretty cute and sums up how I feel some days.

TO BE 6 AGAIN

A man was sitting on the edge of the bed, observing his wife turning back and forth, looking at herself in the mirror.

Since her birthday was not far off, he asked what she'd like to have for her Birthday.

I'd like to be six again, she replied, still looking in the mirror.

On the morning of her Birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big bowl of Lucky Charms, and then took her to Six Flags theme park.

What a day! He put her on every ride in the park;... more

My hubby has just left on a plane for Dallas to move his mother closer to us. She is giving up her home of thirty years and her home city of forty years. She will also leave behind two grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

We’ve been discussing this possibility as a family for years. MIL (Mother in Law) is now moving into her late 80's and just can’t live alone anymore. She needs to be close to her only child so he can help her make decisions and visit and well, just be there for her.

She’s been... more

Last night we watched "The Empire Strikes Back" in the comfort of our living room. Well, the first part of it, anyway, as full-length features are viewed in installments in our house due to early bedtimes and the necessity for stories. Shortly after the long-ago-in-a-galaxy opening, my brain took a bit of a wander down memory lane.

It was hot in Sacramento the day the movie opened, but we came to the very long line for the first showing prepared with cool drinks, chairs and sunscreen. My sister-in-law was there, too,... more