Deb on Open Adoption blogged about it yesterday…that feeling that among a group of moms you are considered “less than”. It happens to those who’ve adopted, but it happens to others as well.

I have been a “less than” mom for nearly 14 years now.. In one particularly annoying, reoccurring scenario, I often went to my stepdaughter’s elementary school (she’s in college now, so it’s been a while) to pick her up from the afterschool program. The same receptionist would ask... more

Every Monday, I feel this way. So much to do…so little time! I think I’d be more encouraged if I knew that when I got to Friday I would have accomplished much of what’s on my list. But for the last year or so, nothing could be further from the truth! On the agenda this week is dinner for 30 in conjunction with our church’s youth retreat. The church will be hosting about 500 middle and high school youth from the community. I volunteered to provide dinner in our home for 30 middle and high school girls. It is going to be fun, but it does... more

Noticing the difference between races began early for LuLu. Just like we had marveled that KayKay didn’t have racial vocabulary to describe black or Asian people during her pre-school years, we marveled at how quickly LuLu pointed out these differences. She has always focused on our skin color differences, our eye differences, our hair color.

When she was young, she believed that as she grew older she would be come Caucasian, with blonde hair and blue eyes. It took me months to understand that this was her belief. But she realized it was not... more

Heidi, over on the Adopting a Sibling blog, has posted on racism. Oddly enough, we had our own encounter with racism this week and it’s sent my mind into contemplating it all.

It’s ugly, but I believe we are all a bit racist/sexist or other “ist”. I wholeheartedly agree with Heidi that it is taught (mostly at home), but I know that as humans we all have a desire to be better than others. We handle that desire in many ways (positive and negative),... more

Ok, today’s my day to brag totally off topic of parenting special kids…and highlight our other very special kid: Kay. Here she is in her high school musical last week – Beauty and the Beast. She is the red-haired Silly Girl # 3. Don’t you love her naturally curly hair? They are reminiscent of the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus, aren’t they?

The show was magnificent! I love it when a show is so good that you forget these are the high school kids you know – the ones who hang out at your... more

Ok, I’m stealing this idea from one of my friends who is parenting two particularly challenging girls. She points out that most of us look upon Lent as a time for giving up some physical pleasure…dessert, a daily meal, smoking. But that the real purpose of observing Lent is for soul-searching, repentance and reflection.

Today is Ash Wednesday – the official beginning of the 40-day observance. There are tons of Christian churches and denominations who don’t observe Lent with the rigor of other denominations. But observing Lent is an awesome way to... more

Reading emails about our friend’s daughter’s service dog through 4 Paws for Ability sparked the realization that through no effort of our own we have been sent a service dog, of sorts.

I blogged earlier this month about the tragic loss of our dog, Laser, and about my ambivalent feelings around this loss, since Laser was not meshing with LuLu’s many challenging traits. I also blogged about the coincidental chance we had at helping out one of Kay Kay’s friends by taking their dog since they... more

I was sad to read that Jupe is leaving adoptionblogs, but totally understand her struggles with being able to blog fast enough. I’m not able to do 30-minute blogs either. Sometimes I am – when it’s a quick little ditty about my family or a vent about something personal. But let’s face it, that’s not necessarily what you’ve come to read. You want information, you want ideas, you want to know that you’re not alone.

And so do I. That is why countless... more

In December, we received notice from our insurance company that we needed to start filling the prescriptions that LuLu takes via mail order. The good news is that she’s been so stabilized on the same meds that the doctor has prescribed them at the same dosage for 6 months straight – which raised a red flag in the mail order pharmacy computer that we were mandatory candidates for filling 90-day prescriptions.

The touted benefit of mail order 90-day prescriptions versus a 30-day supply through our local pharmacy is savings. So, it was with great excitement that I opened... more

LuLu mailed out 15 valentines last Friday to children’s whose parents decided to join us via Operation Valentine. Most of these children are homeschooled special needs children, many are adopted. They are from ALL OVER the United States. It was fun creating the valentines, trekking to the post office and even more exciting checking our mailbox everyday for the many valentines LuLu received.

LuLu may strike up a more permanent pen pal relationship with a few of these children, which is a great way to practice her writing skills. She... more