If you know me in real life, you know I’m a pretty simple gal when it comes to clothes. I prefer to think of it as “classic” rather than “dated” when I realize I have clothes in my closet with a lifespan older than my kids. Being budget-minded makes it really hard to keep up...
{#19} Attachment is a two-way street
Two hot words in the adoption community: attachment and bonding. There are probably as many differing definitions for each of these as there are licensed psychologists. For our purposes, let’s say bonding is the continuous cycle of a parent meeting the needs of a child in order to build trust. Attachment is the emotional bond...
Ocean Life Plays
Have I mentioned recently how much we love the education our children are receiving? Since the heart of classical education is developing children who love and know how to learn, we love that teachers use lots of ways to reinforce the information being taught. This week, we had the privilege of seeing PJ’s class perform...
Raised Beds
Patrick really wanted to try raised beds in our garden this year. Our soil is mostly clay which hasn’t been a huge problem except for root veggies. He also claims raised beds are better because they warm up faster in the spring for earlier planting. I claim they also freeze faster and need more watering....
{#18} Unity
One of Grafted Families’ first outreaches was an Adoptive/Foster Mom’s Night Out. We advertised to the community and invited anyone who was an adoptive or foster mom or who thought she might want to be. It’s a pretty informal night with a pretty open invitation. I was stunned when I received phone calls from moms...
Spring cleaning fun!
Ugghh. Why is my favorite season associated with the thing I hate most? It is beyond me why anyone would want to stay inside to clean after being cooped up all winter. It seems to me one should take advantage of the perfect-weather days of spring to do things like garden or learn how to...
{#17} Birthparents
More often than not, adoptive parents are threatened by their child’s birthparents. Maybe their afraid the birthparents will try to “get the child back” or are afraid that a child with forsake a relationship with his adoptive parents for a relationship with his birthparents. Maybe they don’t approve of the influence birthparents might have on...
Bzz Review: Factor Tree
As were deciding whether or not to homeschool for next year, Bzz Agent launched a campaign for the Factor Tree–an online, supplemental math website. Convenient, huh? Here’s what Factor Tree has to say: What makes the Factor Tree so effective? Provides the practice and repetition needed for a child to truly master key math skills...