Continued.....

We had male and female nurses with a wide age range and it was interesting how they all related and reacted to adoption. Everyone seem to bring it up when they first came in, by asking medical questions, and it was kind of funny to see some people relate openly about it and then others you could tell were fighting to ask questions, occasionally some would, and then others would have to build up their nerve to ask. I did find that the younger (thirty years or below) seemed to be more accepting and open about being adopted. They also were more open about want and trying to interact with... more

Continued.....

Jello turned out to be a big battle with the staff and my daughter, finally an ER nurse suggested boiled egg whites for her and she could just swallow them. They worked great and she loved them, but Jello was still what they were pushing on her. So, for every nurse, it was an uphill battle to get her egg whites. I kept telling them, she will still be here when she is 21 years old if you think she is not leaving until she eats Jello. My husband had to go to the hospital management to handle the problem. I was just too tired to fight every nurse that walked through the door. Management... more

Continued....

I explained that my daughter was born addicted to drugs and she was born two and half months premature. I explained that she does have some issues from her rough start in life, she struggles with toilet training, things have to be very structured for her. She has great difficultly when things change, she is very hyper and has issues with textures and foods. I think it was a little more than the lady had bargained for and was taken aback with her issues.

She asked, “What do we need to do for her and how can we deal with her? I guess she is what you call a picky eater. She will... more

When my four year old adopted daughter A and I were hospitalized, the being adopted became of interest to others. It was very enlightening to watch people’s responses, the questions that were asked, things people said, and how some acted. When you are quarantined in a room for a week with your daughter and you have a lot of time watching and interacting with people you can learn a lot. Especially, when cartoons are the only things on the television to calm my daughter:).

Our hospital is a small country hospital. It is one of the top 100 in the USA, so I feel it was a very good hospital. We were placed in a private room (it is all they have), so my bed had to placed into a pediatric... more

What a week it has been. I had been sick with my four year old daughter for several days and getting worse. We got an appointment to our doctor, after being unable to eat anything for four days and drinking very minimal amounts. The doctor took one look at us, placed us in the hospital. At this point we were in a lot of pain, I was only concerned about how long in the hospital and that my daughter and I would be kept together. We live an hour and half away from our hospital, so my husband would have to care for our other children.

The stay in the hospital was supposed to be overnight, we were released a week later. Everyday we spent was worth it, when you have blisters from... more

Continued........

Yes, we all have trauma and demons that we have been dealt but it is how we deal with them. I am no different than others, I have my own demons that I still struggle with but I choose not to let my demons control me and the outcome of my life.

We all have demons that we face (even the people that are not adopted) and they may not have a thing to do with being adopted. People are haunted by relationships, lack of money, not being accepted, loss of loved ones, abuse, loneliness, fear of the unknown, struggling with their weight, rejection, and the list can go on and on. It is up to us if we let the demons control our lives.

I believe as adoptive parents... more

Continued.....

As a teenager, I did not talk about being adopted or want to talk about it. During this time in my life I just pushed it out of my mind, maybe too much to deal with while going through the horrible teenage stage of life. I am not saying it did not creep in occasionally but for the most part I chose not to deal with it. At this point in my life I was not emotional able to be with it.

As a young adult, adoption had a large impact on my life. I knew that I was given a wonderful chance through adoption and it was up to me how I chose to let it impact me. I wanted... more

It will impact your life in a number of different ways. Some allow it to impact their life way too much and that is all their life is about.

It does impact you as a child how you see yourself and how others see you. You know that you are different than other children. You have people that have a biological tie to you in this world, and you do not know a thing about them. You wonder what could make a mother not want or love her child. As a child I remember thinking what caused or what had I done for my birth mother not to love me. In my young mind, if she loved me she would want me and not have given me away. Then add on top of my feelings the views and attitude from the... more

[Continued from HERE.] 6. I’ve done it … my laundry, that is, by hand, rubbing one bit against the other, working my way around the whooooole thing … a t-shirt that seems not-so-big-becoming the size of an iceberg and equally as hard to manipulate. I have even had to jump out of the river in which I was washing my laundry because a crocodile came around and was on the prowl. Clean clothes suddenly don’t seem so important... more

HERE

1. Get an idea (light bulb!) but make it fluorescent. If you do only one thing, do this: replace three normal incandescent light bulbs in your house with long-life fluorescent light bulbs (CFL’s.) Take a look HERE for a good comparison (though the prices for the compact fluorescent bulbs has gone down significantly.)... more