I hear a lot of ‘what ifs’ in the world of foster care and adoption. In fact, I lived in the ‘what ifs’ before we jumped headlong into an adoption that almost drowned me in fear. What if the baby I am fostering goes back to the biological parents? What if I have to give her back? What if I… Read More
You know that moment when your kid is freaking out in public? The moment that you see the sideways glances and hear the whispers? I think that as parents we all will experience that epic Wal-Mart freak out, or theme park meltdown. It’s part of the reality of parenting, but sometimes it’s attached to a bigger fear. Within the foster… Read More
My child glanced back at me, and then reached over and grabbed your hand and kissed it. You smiled down at her and I could read your mind. “What a sweet and loving child”. I also knew exactly how wrong this whole situation was, because my child was looking up at you and reaching for your fingers to SURVIVE. My… Read More
My Benjamin His name was Benjamin* and I was in my first year of teaching in a small, rural school. He was not an attractive child and the layers of dirt, grime and smell did not help his likeability. He rarely spoke and sat in the corner of my classroom, and could have easily been forgotten. He had passed through… Read More
I always start the class out with introductions. As my eyes swept the room, I took in all the men wearing orange jumpsuits and I prepared mentally to scale a huge mountain. Each class always starts with emotional walls and barriers that I must figure out how to breach. Today, the mountain came tumbling down because of one spoken sentence from… Read More
There are things that I wish you understood about my kid. I realize that he is one of 29 other children in your classroom and you really don’t need one more thing on your plate. But, the more I understand about trauma, the more I realize how much it affected my entire classroom. The extent of my training for childhood… Read More