Babies Produced by the Drug Culture

Posted on March 9, 2007 by

At the close of a recent blog about child abuse, I was asked an interesting question. Why do women, who do not want to take care of their children, keep having them? I am by no means an expert on a question like this, but I can make some comments based upon what I have seen and heard. The birth mother of our five adopted children had seven children in ten years. I have not seen her in some time so she may have had more. All of the children that I know of have been taken away from her … Continue reading →

There is a Foster Child on Your Doorstep

Posted on March 8, 2007 by

It is a sad commentary on the foster system in Texas to write about how each of our boys had been prepared for delivery to our home. On February 5, 2003, our state social worker showed up with one month old Caleb. We had been told that he was one half African American and the other half Hispanic. When we pulled back the blanket over him, we received a shock. Caleb was as white as white can be. His last name was even White. We have now checked his DNA and know that he is 25% Hispanic and 75% Caucasian. … Continue reading →

Getting My Mind Right: My Doctor Said I Have Lost Enough Weight

Posted on March 8, 2007 by

This morning, my doctor said the words that I have wanted to hear for a long time. The same doctor, who previously told me that I needed to lose 100 pounds, told me today that he thought that I have lost enough weight. I am now officially on a maintenance diet for life. I have done a lot of study of the popular diets that many of us are on or have been on at one time or another. The problem with almost all of them is that they are a temporary fix. True, an individual will lose weight while … Continue reading →

He Still Wonders

Posted on March 7, 2007 by

Sometimes I wonder what my adopted children are thinking. Every now and then, they will tell me something that is surprising. Every time that I start to think that a child is finally secure, I get a surprise. At least, that is how it has worked so far. Our oldest is eight years old and our only child that can really remember a day that he was not with us. I have already related how he recently had to ask if he was still going to be living with us when we tried to sneak him out of the house … Continue reading →

Against All Odds Again

Posted on March 6, 2007 by

Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of Tommy’s “gotcha day”. Gotcha day is the term used in the adoption community to celebrate and remember the day that a child came to your home to stay. I have already written about the problems that we had with Tommy’s behavior and the fact that he had a “heart scar” down the middle of his chest with no explanation from the state. Tommy came to us one month after his brother Caleb had joined our family. Caleb had a very rough first month of his life. Now that we know almost all of their … Continue reading →

What Almost Every Mother Knows

Posted on March 5, 2007 by

If there was room for it, the complete title for this blog would be “What Almost Every Mother Knows, But Keeps to Herself”. Yesterday, Nancy took our three oldest adopted children to visit our daughter and her husband for the night. They had planned activities for this morning. She left me at home with our four year old and 30 month old boys. Ok, I will admit it. Nancy is much better at taking care of children than I am. It does take both of us at home to raise them given the number and their special needs. When we … Continue reading →

Foster Parents Have a Lot of Worries

Posted on March 2, 2007 by

Foster parents operate with a worry that something will go wrong. The state puts children in their home who have serious problems. Frequently, the foster parents do not know most of what the state knows. Yet, if something should go wrong, guess who will quickly get the blame? I have previously given examples in regard to receiving our now adopted boys as foster children. Tommy came to us with no medical records, two prescription medications, and a telltale scar down the middle of his chest. Foster parents are required to have a child checked by a doctor within a few … Continue reading →

Memories That Linger

Posted on March 2, 2007 by

One of our adopted children has just recently been exhibiting behavior that we do not usually expect with him. He has been having outbursts of anger at school and at home. We thought about what might be triggering these feelings and sought counsel from an experienced adoption therapist. As background, eighteen months ago, we decided that the public schools were never going to fit for us. We then home schooled him for a year and a half. It went well academically and important bonding took place, particularly between the boys and my wife. We really valued the home school experience, … Continue reading →

Fun: A Great Healer

Posted on March 1, 2007 by

When I was growing up, a family lived next door that had four rambunctious boys who were very close together in age. I’ll call them the Fitzpatrick’s. I have been telling stories about the things that their boys did for years, never dreaming that I would be the head of a family just like them before I was through. Two of the Fitzpatrick boys used to play a game that took place on the hood of their mother’s station wagon (the precursor to the minivan). They would stand on the hood of the car with a baseball bat and take … Continue reading →