Tag Archives: international adoption

Issues Illuminated in The Waiting Child

Last week I wrote about Cindy’s Champnella’s book The Waiting Child: How the Faith and Love of One Orphan Saved the Life of Another, which tells the incredible story of her four-year-old daughter’s campaign to find a family for a toddler she had been assigned to take care of at her orphanage. In addition to the central story of trying to bring their daughter’s ill-nourished “baby” to the U.S., the book also deals with many aspects of adoption: the “voluntary donation” fees paid to orphanages, the deprivation some children have experienced in the orphanages, fears and insecurities in older children, … Continue reading →

Yes, You Can Work At Home! Part 2

Working at home is increasing in popularity, especially amongst moms with children who are trying to raise their family and bring in a much needed income. Single moms are even finding that this is a possibility. While raising your children, earning an income, and tending to the other numerous responsibilities and chores that makes up the life of “Mom” is a juggling act it is being done in many households. When this is what makes up your life you find that prioritizing is essential in making it all come together. Work at home jobs come in all skill levels. Below … Continue reading →

Adoption in the News this Week: from ER to Madonna to the Hague

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Adoption has certainly been in the media this week. As my fellow blogger Michelle has noted in the popular culture blog, Madonna’s petition to adopt a second child from Malawi was denied by a judge in Malawian court. Madonna, who has said she plans to appeal, left the country Sunday without three-year-old Chifundo “Mercy” James, the child she had planned to make her daughter. The judge said she fears that waiving the country’s residency requirements for adoptive parents would open the door to traffickers. Other possible reasons for the different outcome in this case from Madonna’s previous adoption are being … Continue reading →

More Musings:

As we were leaving speech therapy last week, we mentioned our plans to have corned beef corned beef for dinner (for St. Patrick’s Day). Meg’s therapist said, “Are you all Irish?” “Sure. Every last one of us.” Except that, like most witty responses, this came to me after the fact. It’s probably a good thing anyway. Emphasizing the difference would have just made her feel different. She’s also getting to the age of being embarrassed in talking about herself and being adopted, although she seems much more ready to talk about being Korean since we had a Korean student stay … Continue reading →

Resources for Learning the History of Other Cultures

When I decided to adopt from Korea, I knew next to nothing about the culture. In what little mention of them there is in books, Korea, Vietnam, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia are often presented as victim nations, poor and often governed by puppet regimes of other countries. This is not great for self-esteem. (Regarding self-esteem: I’ve always thought some women were too sensitive to non-inclusive language. I’ve always been fine assuming that “all men” included me. But as I get older I see subtle discrimination more than I ever thought I would, and I realize the power of hearing … Continue reading →

Are Our Kids’ Cultures Represented in Their History Books?

I love the Usborne Encyclopedias for Children, volumes such as World History, World Geography, and Science. However, many of our internationally adopted children will not find their heritage represented. I know full well that you can’t cram all of World History into a children’s volume. I also accept that Western Civilization and American History should play the greater role in books written for American children, which my children certainly are. Still, I worry that they will begin to think that people like themselves had nothing to do with history. When there is mention of Asian history, that refers to China, … Continue reading →

Book Review: International Adoption: Sensitive Advice for Prospective Parents

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International Adoption: Sensitive Advice for Prospective Parents is a collaboration between Jean Knoll and Mary-Kate Murphy. Jean Knoll kept a journal throughout the process which led through two failed referrals, two adoption agencies and three countries to the eventual adoption of her daughter Jessie in Peru. Katie Murphy met her briefly in Peru just before returning to the U.S. with her own Peruvian daughter. Murphy writes commentary chapters giving some of the background of international adoption. These appear in between segments of Knoll’s journal. Knoll adopted as a single parent; Murphy has a husband and a biological son. There is … Continue reading →

Blogging Your Health: Pros and Cons

The other day, I was thinking long and hard about blogging your health: what to say, how much detail to give, who gets to read your posts. It’s a tricky issue, to say the least. Let’s look at some positives and negatives. The advantages of blogging your health can include: Ease. Make one post/update to your social networking site of choice and all your friends get the news at the same time. It’s quick and easy — and that’s good at a time when you may not have a lot of time and energy to devote to keeping everybody updated. … Continue reading →

Blogging Your Health

We live in an age of information. Sometimes, it seems harder to disconnect from phones, email, and computers than it is to stay connected! So how much (or how little) personal information and experience do you put out there? Social networking sites have made it possible for anyone and everyone to find an audience of friends, family, coworkers, and even relative strangers. Again, the question of how much do you (or don’t you) say about your everyday life is important. This sort of thing is on my mind lately in regards to health. Do you talk about your health or … Continue reading →

Dare to Dream

Do you know your spouse’s dream? Have you ever bothered to find out what they’d really like to do if they had the chance? If you do know are you supporting them and helping them to realize that dream? When Mick and I went and saw ‘The Bucket List’ one of the things that struck me was how Carter Chambers ended up having a list of things he dreamt of achieving before he died – a list his wife neither knew about nor understood. He’d been married to the same woman for many years and she apparently had no idea … Continue reading →