I have a confession. I was a little ambivalent about attending my first Christian adoption conference. I read a lot of blogs. (Too many blogs). Some of them are very critical of adoption. I am an advocate for adoption, but I read with interest because I also think the system needs massive reform, and because I think it’s good to get the perspective of others. Usually I have a pretty high tolerance for listening to viewpoints that differ from my own. (Usually). One of . . .
overwhelmed in austin
Mark and I spent the weekend in Austin, Texas, attending an adoption conference. The weekend was fun, emotional, draining, depressing, uplifting, encouraging, and exhausting. In a nutshell, the weekend was about the global orphan crisis, food, poverty, attachment, food, friends, adoption, and food. Can you see where that would lead to a sense of overwhelm? I’m going to talk about the heavier issues at a later point, because a) I need to unpack my suitcase, and b) I need to unpack . . .
what I want you to know: Fetal Alchohol Syndrome
What I Want You to Know is a series of reader submissions. It is an attempt to allow people to tell their personal stories, in the hopes of bringing greater compassion to the unique issues each of us face. If you would like to submit a story, email me. What I want you to know is about my daughter. She came to us as a foster child at age 2. She was exposed to meth and alcohol in the womb. When she came to us she was ANGRY and she screamed and raged for hours out of the day. At 4 she was . . .
what I want you to know: being fat and hairy (PCOS)
My name is Beth. I'm 35 years old, and i weighed 270 pounds at my last weigh-in. That's twelve pounds less than my highest weight. When i was a teenager, i started noticing more hair than normal on my face and chest, but i didn't think too much about it; neither did my parents. When i was 19, i went for my first "ladies exam," and was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). The doctor told me to eat lots of vegetables to lose weight and that if i . . .
My phone is a child magnet
I cannot talk on the phone. Because every time I try, it is just like I am holding a magnet up to my ear. A magnet that attracts loud, screaming, fighting, needy children within 2 feet of my person. Children who are otherwise happily distracted, who see me on the phone must talk to me RIGHT THEN in their LOUDEST VOICES while I try to make an appointment or confirm a shipment. What is up with that? . . .
the unbearable lightness of family
We saw a new staging of Peter Pan last night. It was an intense experience on many levels. I will write more about the show in a sec, since being a theater critic was my #2 career aspiration in college (#1 being a correspondent role on The Daily Show, but alas not all dreams come true). First, I feel like I should write out some of the profound adoption themes that the show brought up for me. (The mom bloggers and kids before the show)I ’ve never thought of Peter Pan as a . . .
peter pan!
Tonight we get to go see the premiere of Peter Pan with the Orange County Register! We are so excited . . . can you tell? This new staged version looks so good, and I think I am going to love it as much as the kids do. It's playing at Orange County Performing Arts Center all week. . . .
it doesn’t take much
We had a fun, lazy Sunday yesterday. It was a reminder how easily my kids are entertained. The kids painted some old boxes that had been lying around the garage. (I got these tempura paint cups from Lakeshore and I love them. It makes impromptu painting sessions much easier). Then the boys spent about an hour using the boxes as spaceships/battering rams on the trampoline. I was sure this would end with someone getting hurt. It did. But they had . . .
that’s what she said – choice theory edition
Self-Concept and Birth Motherhood I love the questions that are being raised in this post. She’s framing the question around birthmothers, but I think it is relatable to anyone who has faced major life-changing events. How do we define ourselves based on the tragedies or regrets in our life, and is anger a useful tool for creating our self-concept? The comments are thought-provoking, too. The Case Against Breastfeeding I thought this article did a great job of exploring the . . .
full fall
Our October calendar is quickly filling up. I don’t know about you, but our schedule is always feast of famine. We will have days or weeks of relatively nothing on the books, and then everything sort of happens at once. October is like that for us. I will be travelling three weekends in October, and although I’m really excited about all of it, I’m already feeling exhausted. Next week Mark and I are headed to Austin for the Together for Adoption Conference. This . . .
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