Tuesday Topics are back with this question from Emily: How do you incorporate your child’s triggers and mental health needs into consequences and discipline? My early elementary-age daughter recently damaged some of her clothes, which is something we’ve battled on and off for three years. Under normal circumstances, this would result in significant consequences. But […]
Three Essentials For Foster and Adoptive Parents
Endless patience over the months and years of waiting, an ability to give up the illusion of control, and enough seat belts – these are just a few things foster and adoptive parents need. Far beyond these, three core essentials stand out to me: Courage, Flexibility, and Endurance Eleven years ago, Russ and I began […]
The Comfort of a Rocking Chair
A rocking chair. A big, stuffed rocking chair. Ask me what my most useful tool is for parenting children with trauma, or parenting in general, and this is what I’ll answer. A Rocking Chair. It doesn’t need to be attractive, stylish, or match your decor. There are lots of other tools I love from weighted […]
Adoption: Recognizing the Loss for All of Us
I witnessed something unexpected this weekend – a swirl of pain in a normally safe place. A group devoted to conversations about parenting adopted/foster children with connection, a group teaching and supporting the methods developed by my friend, Dr. Karyn Purvis, became a place of debate, contention, and pain. As I watched the conversation unfold, […]
Serenity, Courage, Wisdom
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change Courage to change the things I can And wisdom to know the difference. Amen, amen, and amen. I am in control of very few things, as much as I would like it to be otherwise. Parenting is the perfect opportunity to learn this […]
Four Simple Tips For Family Dinners
33 years – that’s how many years Russ and I have been sitting down to dinner together. Actually, more if you count the cafeteria at Seattle Pacific University. There were dinners at the group home where we worked the first year of our marriage. Later we dined in our 6th-floor apartment near Pike Place Market, […]
![Foster care and adoption are wonderful and wild journeys. This is the first post in a series on three essentials parents need. What would you choose? I would love to hear your thoughts. [link to post in profile]
#adoption #fostercare #onethankfulmom #couragedearheart](http://scontent-lga3-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/s320x320/20838604_159531861290777_5614185939988381696_n.jpg "Foster care and adoption are wonderful and wild journeys. This is the first post in a series on three essentials parents need. What would you choose? I would love to hear your thoughts. [link to post in profile]
#adoption #fostercare #onethankfulmom #couragedearheart")
