Understanding Childhood Sexual Development: A Shame-Free Guide for Parents
“Is This Normal?” It’s a question parents ask in mom groups, on social media, and in whispered conversations with everyone from grandmas to pediatricians. We all wonder if our kids are meeting appropriate milestones, staying on target with their peers, and are just “normal” (if that’s even a thing!). But that question feels much more […]
Walking with Biological Families – How Adoption and Foster Care Changed Me for Good
Key Takeaways Proximity fosters understanding: Getting closer to someone’s story shifts judgment into compassion and changes the way we see ourselves and others. Uncomfortable isn’t unsafe: Stepping into unfamiliar or challenging situations can be a path to deeper connection and healing for both children and their biological families. True change costs more than money: Generational […]
ADHD and Children with Hard Histories
I love to spend time with my kids! But sometimes, I also dread helping them with homework. Though necessary, homework isn’t on my top ten list of “most fun family activities,” and I’m guessing I’m not the only parent who feels that way! When you are parenting children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), doing schoolwork can quickly shift from an annoying ritual to painfully frustrating. Why is schoolwork so difficult for children with ADHD? Consider […]
Saving Reasons Until the End
Devon* is an 11-year-old living with his grandmother. His mom left the family years ago and his dad recently went to prison. Devon misses his dad and doesn’t understand why his grandma acts more like his school principal than the fun lady who used to spoil him. He becomes emotional easily and sometimes has a […]
The Responsibility of a Transracial Adoptive Parent
When I became an adoptive parent with my husband John, our four daughters became part of our new multiracial family. They received our last name, they gained many fun relatives, family traditions, and they will inherit our belongings and money when we die. Their personalities are, in part, shaped by the environment in our home […]
Understanding Our Senses
In my early days as a foster parent, I would often tell people about puzzling behaviors in my children that seemed to not make any sense–from laying upside down while watching television, or rocking back and forth. I would often hear people say, “could it be a sensory issue?” I was too embarrassed to admit […]
Haunted House Feelings
By Staci Thomas, TBRI® Practitioner It’s the scary season. Haunted houses and spooky events are everywhere. People pay money to be frightened. If you are one of those people, you enter a creepy house knowing that you are going to scream, jump, and be scared out of your wits. Even though you know some sort of […]
Adoption Granted! Now What?
Adoption is beautiful but it doesn’t end in the courtroom. Years of waiting, heartache, loss and wondering precedes adoption day. There are countless hours of planning, preparation and paperwork, but when the day finally arrives, it’s over in the blink of an eye. We applaud adoptive parents, but we don’t realize that when the papers are […]
Bridging the Gap: How to Improve Birth Family Visits
Birth family visits are one of the most challenging aspects of foster care. They are confusing for foster parents, not to mention how emotional they are for birth parents. Sometimes, foster children look forward to these temporary reunions with their family but are wrecked at the brevity. Other times, children dread these visits, as they […]
Foster and Adoption: Language and Sharing Imperfections
BY STACI THOMAS The words we use have a tremendous impact on those around us. It’s crucial to choose our language carefully when speaking of adoption and foster children. We should strive to use phrases that reflect how deeply we care. This means we need to avoid words that cast judgment on the child, paint […]
Three Essential Pillars for Foster and Adopted Children
In 2008, an Australian psychologist named Howard Bath published an article (linked below) called “The Three Pillars of Trauma Informed Care.” Nearly a decade later, his work holds true as we continue to see the benefits of using trauma-informed interventions with foster and adopted children. Occasionally returning to the basics of trauma-informed care is essential […]
