I've been blogging here on Adoptionblogs.com for well more than a year now ... a bit longer on the International Adoption Blog than this one, but in this community, nonetheless.

For months I've been writing at least 43 posts per month per blog, which is a heck of a lot of words to string together, and I'll admit there are days when the work is as hard as trying to draw water from a dry well.

It's not the writing that has me pacing, pulling out my hair and ferreting through the Internet like ... well, like a hungry ferret out to find a few tasty tidbits that might also provide some nourishment. I can manage... more

A few months have passed, so I've overcome the trauma of Cj's attempt at preschool ... sort of ... and have been thinking of trying it again.

She so loves going to Sam's school, happily running in, meters ahead of me, then waving her way along until she reaches his classroom. With a shout of, "Brother!" she runs into... more

Sam is four and a half ... and a very bright four and a half, if I do say so myself ... so has developed keen observation skills and prodigious curiosity. Like good old Carnac the Magnificent he often knows and sees all.

Unlike many kids who've been adopted into families where the parents are young and pre-menopausal, Sam hasn't been exposed to pregnant friends of Mom and Dad, and the excitement, hoopla and conversation that goes... more

I was my mother's first child. Born in 1951, my early years were an experiment in post-war parenting that saw many mothers ... mine included ... stuck in a ration coupon mentality that insisted that dinner plates started out with a bit of everything on offer and ended up sans even a single scrap or morsel. The theory on the preparation of vegetables at the time, at least in my house, involved prolonged boiling until most of the color had faded, the flavor had mutated and the consistency assured... more

We celebrate many occasions in my house: four birthdays, one Christmas, three days of Cambodian New Year, one love-at-first-glance anniversary, one wedding anniversary, two family days, and even a Thanksgiving when I can get my hands on a turkey. May the 17th is a big day, too. Although it is my niece's birthday, an event worth noting, there's another reason the day gets a big woo hoo! around here: it's my Not Dead Day.

On... more

Yesterday was not only Mothers Day in America, it was also our former foster son's 9th birthday. Nine-years-old! That's simply amazing.

T lived with us from the age of two until just past his fourth birthday, and even with me able to do the math it seems impossible that it's been five years since his mother returned... more

The only mothers it is safe to forget on Mother's Day are the good ones. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

For some reason, almost all swearing in Seychelles has something to do with mothers. Before I understood more than a few words in Creole, I knew that if "mama" was attached to a sentence aimed in my direction I was well within my rights to be royally insulted.

Not that this has anything to do with Mothers Day, other than the fact that it's not here ... Mothers Day, that is.

Mothers... more

Another old broad has adopted an infant, and it's making news. Considering how many of us there are doing it these days ... adopting at an older age is what I mean by 'doing it", as I'm sure you know ... you might think this would pass unnoticed, or at least uncommented-upon, but that's not the case. Headlines are shouting the news from the rooftops, and ... more

My husband is a passionate man. Although much of what gets my dander up rolls off him like water off a duck's back, the things he does care about get his whole heart and soul. His kids are the light of his life, and our family is at the center of his world. The only thing that he'll voluntarily ... and enthusiastically, I'll add ... sign up for that puts distance between him and his family is fishing. Although the charm of bobbing around in a tiny boat for hours on end as it fills with wriggling, smelly fish escapes me... more

Although a bit confusing when one tries to unravel how the two groups are defined, a new study suggests that mothers and daughters view retirement in very different ways. Anyone hoping to figure out which category they fit will first have to calculate if they're Generation X (b. 1965-1977), late Baby Boomers (b. 1956-1964), early Baby Boomers (b. 1946-1955), the Silent Generation (b.1933-1945) and the World War... more