I want to summarize some of the things I think it is important that we do as adoptive parents to help our children thrive.

Acknowledge that our children have experienced loss in their lives

We adoptive parents have gotten such a great gift from the presence of our children in our lives that sometimes we forget that great loss and sadness is also involved. We need to acknowledge that loss so that if and when our children exhibit sadness, we will be able to listen and be prepared to help... more

Did you just stumble upon this blog recently? I hope you'll go back and read the archives -- just click the links to the right. However I realize that is a huge undertaking. As I’ve been preparing to say goodbye here at adoption.com, I’ve been looking back at my time here and thinking about all the writing I’ve done. I'm certain it would be enough to make a good-sized book.

So I thought I'd help you out and give you the Cliff's Notes version. I’ve picked ten posts that I am most proud of to highlight here. I think they best represent the kind of information and support I’ve tried to give you... more

This post is an ongoing project to make it easier for Ethiopian adoptive families to find each other's blogs. When it shows up at the top of the blog, it has just been updated. If you would like to be added, leave a comment. I'll update it every month or so, and I'll mark additions as 'new'. I would LOVE IT if you'd add my blog to your blogroll too!

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4 Kikstras 4 Little Birdies 5 McC Kids 7701... more

I've decided to start another ongoing post like my blogroll one. This one deals with something high on the interest list of any family currently in the adoption process. Just how long does it really take to adopt from Ethiopia? I hope that you will help answer that question by sharing your own statistics.

There are so many variables: the agency you use, the type of child you are requesting, the speed of your social worker, the competence of your local immigration office, and the amount of time you are... more

A week or so ago the adoption.com blogs underwent a makeover. You may have noticed some changes when you've visited recently. One of the changes is the sign-in box at the top right corner of every page. We are hoping that will make it easier for readers to participate on this forum.

However, there have been a few glitches, especially for AOL users (including me!) Some people have been getting '404' errors when trying to view pages or when trying to sign in to the forum. The adoption.com tech people are working to resolve issues. But for now they are saying that the best solution is to clear your 'cookies'.

Many of you probably know how to do this, but I didn't remember... more

That last long flight on the way home was when we really had to work to come up with entertainment. Fortunately I had lots of little things to pull out at various times. Some things didn't work as well as others. My two year old kept accidentally shining her flashlight in the eyes of the young man sitting next to her. Oops, ditch that. And the little toy cell phones with candy inside...well, the candy was good, but the repetitive ringing, not so much. Ditch those too.

The very best toy turned out to be the beading kits I made up in ziplocks. The older girls strung beads on strings, and added real clasps to the ends to make fun necklaces. The two year old loved stringing... more

Our flight from Addis to Frankfurt was accomplished mostly while the girls slept. I wish the same could be said for John and me. Unfortunately a very loud businessman right behind John and across the aisle from me decided to talk to his seatmate-- loudly -- for at least 4 hours of the flight. Until then I hadn’t know it was possible to talk that long with so little encouragement.

When his seatmate finally got it across that he’d rather sleep, the man still wasn’t quiet. He rustled his newspaper and cleared his throat and twitched and got up and sat down. To make it more... more

By the time the AAI driver got to the guesthouse around 7 pm, we had indeed gotten everything into the suitcases, including a large round woven injera mat that we’d bought a couple evenings before. A woman had been selling them near the guesthouse when we were walking by one evening. When I spotted it, I knew I wanted one. I stuck 10 birr into my 11 year old’s hand and asked her to go back and get it for me. After a minute or two of talking with the woman, she came back with it looking pleased, and so was I. On our last trip, I’d bought a couple similar mats about the diameter of a pot-holder. This one was big enough to hold a whole large piece of injera.

One thing I didn’t... more

By the time we reached the Hilton, the blue patch in the sky was growing, and we were starting to feel like our swim just might work out. We didn't know exactly how long the girls or the weather would last, and told our driver so. Dawit said it didn't matter-- he'd just hang out and wait for us. The man is worth way more than the 60 birr (about $6) per hour he charges.

Once inside the Hilton we stopped at the bank to change some money. At $7 for kids and $9 for adults, this was the most expensive swim in my life. The fee includes the use of a very nice dressing room, and a huge fluffy towel each. My new girls were rather uncertain about the (lack of) modesty of their bathing... more

Saturday morning we woke up with the knowledge that this was our last day in Addis. I wanted to cram in as much as possible, and I was relieved to see that the our new girls seemed to be in good spirits and ready to go, despite the emotional day yesterday.

We'd arranged for our very kind driver Dawit to pick us up at 10:00 for some shopping and touristing. If the weather would cooperate, we also hoped to sneak in a swim at the Hilton. So far the sky looked grey and threatening, but we packed swimsuits so that we'd be ready if there was a break in the clouds.

While shopping, we hoped to find something fun to bring home for our kids who hadn't come to Addis with us. I... more