I've just posted a comment on Jenna's blog about titles for parents, saying that if we're all going to pick the term we'd like to be referred to by, I pick "Enduring Mother".

'Adoptive parent' has always sounded a bit too legal-eze to me ... too little to do with heart and to much to do with paperwork to represent my reality. "Second mom" will not do, as it connotes second best, and although my kids each have a First Mother, I'm not pulling... more

It's once again time to gather together all the bits I've been collecting over the past couple of days and put them into a catch-all post of hopefully interesting or helpful hints.

Starting with Dr. Joyce Brothers on older parents. She's in favor, and adds that: "Age has always been relative, but this is especially true today, when people often look and feel half their age, thanks to better health. If you look much older than other parents, that's not... more

My fifty-sixth birthday is coming up in ten days ... eeek!!! ... and evidence has been presented to me this afternoon that this fact of my life makes me just a shade under four years younger than Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. Oh my!

In my far younger days, back when I was a small-ish child of eight or so, my mother mentioned in passing that I was about the right age to marry Prince Charles when he grew up to be King of England. That actually sounded good for a while, although any such plan fell quickly by the wayside... more

Although my parents were never one bit funny, it somehow ended up that my siblings and I are all pretty darned hilarious ... or in our case Hi-Larry-us, as the oldest of my trio of younger brothers is the funniest of the bunch and happens to be named Larry.

Luckily for our folks, none of us figured out how completely we cracked them up until we reached the stage that they no longer had to force themselves into straight faces to dole out discipline. Nope. We had no clue that there was a lot of fine-line-walking between... more

There's been some follow up to a story I posted about last month on eighty-something grandparents losing custody of their grandson to foster care.

The grandparents, Morris (88) and Mildred (85) Brasovankin, are fighting to bring their hyperactive grandson home, and the question they are facing from all quarters is, of course: How old... more

Does the act of dropping to the floor cause a racket of clacking, pops and creaks not unlike a fierce game of mahjong on a three-legged table?

Is every dip of the hips accompanied by an exhale that sounds way too much like old Uncle Merv lowering himself into his Baralounger?

If once you've actually placed yourself on floor level, does the chance of remaining there for the rest of your days seem a definite possibility?

Yeah ... I know ... me, too.

One of the great things about being an older adoptive parent is the fact... more

One of the signs of passing youth is the birth of a sense of fellowship with other human beings as we take our place among them. Virginia Woolf

(Well, that and the realization that Mick Jagger will be sixty-four later this month ... and looks more like Barney Fife in spandex every year ... when it's so easy to recall him, and Keith Richards, being cute young things.)

Brian May, the 59-year-old composer and founder of ... more

I wrote a Love Thursday blog last year called "Hangin' with my best friend" that feartured a shot of Mark and I deep in conversation in a hammock and talked about the ties that bind us ... strong and resilient ties ... that keep us functioning as parents smoothly and with very little friction, and continue to provide a rich environment for ever-growing love.

I could not be more pleased to know that Sam and Cj... more

"Do you know how old you'll be when that kid is a teen?"

Heard that? Yeah ... I'll be you have.

Does it scare you? No?

What? Are you simple, or something? Because it certainly should!

Not that your status as an older adoptive parent should be the root of all fear. No. Any parent of any age should tremble at the thought of sharing space with raging hormones, perceptions of wisdom far beyond what years would indicate, and the potential for mistakes with dire and life-long consequences.

Teens are scary,... more

The warm fuzzies that bubbled up while reading about the stretching mega-givers starting popping pretty darned fast when this came along soon after the article on benvolence.

Starting out by detailing the latest in fashions for kids ... $88 for a pair of the cutest red shorts, and a pair of jeans... more