Tag Archives: international adoption

All it Takes is a Word

Writers are a helpful bunch of people. On Tuesday I found a lovely review of ‘Kaleidoscope,’ my collection of poems, at Aussie Reviews. That review along with a great review on the same site of my children’s book, ‘Karaoke Kate,’ boosted my spirits, the same way comments from some of you here at families.com do. Then today, another writer passed on a response she saw to my children’s story. ‘Dad likes to Cook’ appeared last month in Countdown, one of four magazines put out monthly by School Magazine here in New South Wales. The May magazine contained not only the … Continue reading →

Media Review: American Cultures for Children Video Series

The American Cultures for Children series, available on VHS and DVD, provides excellent introductions to other heritages for children. These videos give an overview of the cultural history and experience of ethnic groups in America. Their strength is that they show not only the distinct culture and scenes of a foreign land, but Americans of that culture in the U.S. today. There are twelve videos available: African-American Heritage, Arab-American Heritage, Central American Heritage, Chinese-American Heritage, Irish-American Heritage, Japanese-American Heritage, Jewish-American Heritage, Korean-American Heritage, Mexican-American Heritage, Native American Heritage, Puerto Rican-American Heritage, and Vietnamese-American Heritage. Each video follows the same format: … Continue reading →

What Are You Talking About?

I often wonder whether some married couples talk to each other at all. The number of times I have heard one half of a couple talking about something they’re planning or hoping to do or have done, and then find their marriage partner knows nothing about it. It’s like they exist in two different worlds and the two never meet. ‘Don’t they ever talk to each other?’ I say, as I think of the hours my husband and I spend talking about all sorts of things. And yes, many of them are probably the same things we talked about when … Continue reading →

A Good Woman (2005)

“A Good Woman” is based on the Oscar Wilde play, “Lady Windermere’s Fan,” and stars Scarlett Johansson as Meg Windemere, a young lady who has been married one year to the love of her life, Robert (Mark Umbers). They go to stay for a time at an Italian resort, where they enjoy the lush living, luxurious accommodations, and get swept up in the society. A Mrs. Erlynne (Helen Hunt) is the talk of the town and the focus of all the gossip—she’s said to be a loose woman, a person without morals, and for a time it would appear that … Continue reading →

What’s in a Name?

Every parent knows the importance of finding the right name for a child. As a fiction writer I also know how important it is to find the right name for my characters. I’ve written a little about it here. The wrong name can completely destroy the illusion a writer is trying to create. Sometimes the reader brings their own ideas to a book. That can work for a writer or against them, as happened with a recent novel I started to read. The main character, who was not exactly like likeable, had the same name as my daughter. Try as … Continue reading →

Without the Children: Would You Have Anything Left to Talk About?

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In a recent article that I wrote I discussed how the order of priorities suggested in The Power of a Praying Wife had caught me off guard. I went into discussion about how the book tells us to put our husband before our children. After much thought on the subject, I realized that the statement is true. After posting the article, I received a reader comment from Dale. Her comment once again got my wheels to spinning. In her comment she remarked about how when children are put first, there is nothing left when they move out and leave home. … Continue reading →

Inspirational Animals: Oscar the Naked Cockatoo

I guess because of the situation I find myself in with my mom I’m even more on the lookout for uplifting and inspirational stories these days. The kind where an underdog faces incredible, perhaps even seemingly insurmountable, odds but still emerges victorious. That’s why the story I saw on the news over the weekend caught my eye. It would have anyway because it had to do with an animal shelter harboring a very special bird. But it grabbed at me even more so because the bird was touted the ugliest bird alive –one who shouldn’t even be alive. Yet it … Continue reading →

At Last: The Conclusion to the Heritage Report Odyssey!

Hooray! Meg did her Heritage Report on Korea! For those of you wondering what the big deal is, well, maybe it isn’t that big a deal…but I’m hoping her change of subject signals pride in being Korean and willingness to acknowledge her adoption. When I last wrote about this project, Meg said she was doing it on Canada. She began to draw the Canadian flag, but I put off helping her research the rest of the report in the hope she’d change her mind and do Korea. She changed her mind four days before the report was due, but in … Continue reading →

Never Underestimate the Power of a Role Model

Our family decided to hire a college exchange student from Korea through an au pair agency. I had initially been hesitant, longing for more cultural exchange with Koreans but fearing that I would be judged on my parenting skills, or that someone from another culture might be prejudiced against adoption in some way. Meg herself told us she didn’t want us to get a Korean au pair. (We’ve had two previous au pairs from Brazil, whom Meg loved.) But we thought that having a role model of a young Korean woman would be good for Meg’s self-esteem, so we took … Continue reading →

The Art of the Letter

I’ve always been a big proponent of letter writing at home. There is nothing like getting a letter from a good friend in the mail, full of the happenings from someone far away. The anticipation of walking up the driveway to the mailbox is something special. Although it is now easier to keep in touch than it was back before the Internet, it is also harder, too. In a few minutes, I can send my thoughts across the miles to a good friend, and she can reply right back. But, something is lost there. In general, the missives are short … Continue reading →