My husband and I had what could be qualified as a date tonight. It’s been a long time since it has happened, so I’m not quite sure.

I had been working all day, really all week, helping some friends move their business. It is extremely physical work and I am simply exhausted. I had to do my weekly duties at church and then I was going to go to Wal-Mart and go home to crash on the couch. As I was driving to church, I drove past Hannah’s best friend’s house and remembered that Hannah was supposed to be at a birthday swim party tonight.

After frantic... more

Yesterday was Holy Humor Sunday in our church. Is it any coincidence that it fell on my husband’s birthday?

A large part of the message of the sermon was taking care of ourselves through humor. This applies to our parenting as well. When faced with chaos, we need to be able to laugh to keep our sanity. Even with the blogs I write, most of them are about serious issues, and things that most parents don’t have to deal with. We need to laugh. On that note, I’m going to present you with some humor and hopefully add a little laughter and joy to your day.

Q.... more

The recent edition of Fostering Families magazine has several articles devoted to self-care for foster parents. I am glad to see a national magazine that is recognizing the importance of this.

A book I have been reading, “100 Days of Weight Loss” by Linda Spangle had a section that resonated with me on a personal level rather than a weight loss level. The section is on emotional safety and how to keep yourself “grounded” during... more

I started back to counseling yesterday. The recent events with Sammy have triggered some major PTSD issues with me, and I need to deal with them in order to be a good mom or wife, much less friend or person.

One of the questions she asked me was “What do you do for fun?” I rattled off a list of things that I’m involved in expecting that to answer her question. She then asked me another question “What do you do outside of your house or church?”

I had to think about that for a while and... more

This may seem like an odd topic for a foster care and adoption blog, but I have found out that this is one hot topic for foster and adoptive parents.

The daily life of a foster parent or special needs adoption parent is very hectic. We run kids to appointments, meet with social workers, fill our reports and documentation, not to mention all the normal responsibilities involved in caring for a child.

I know that I hit the drive thru and grab a burger far more often than is healthy. We grab what we can eat in the little bit of time that we have. We cook “kid... more

Today is national “Go Red for Women Day.” This is a great reminder for all of us who are primary caregivers to special kids to take care of yourself, whether you’re a man or a woman.

Parenting special kids can take a toll on your body, mind and spirit. Some days you struggle just to get out of bed in the morning knowing that the day is going to be a fight. Other days you can get out of bed knowing that it’s going to be a good day.

Heart disease is the number one killer of women for “normal” women. Stress increases... more

Whether you’re celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas or Kwanza, the next four or five weeks will be insanely busy for all of us. We need to do things to take care of ourselves.

Tomorrow I am going over to my friend Elaine’s house. We have a day of knitting planned. Like Marie,I am an avid knitter. I have only been knitting for a few years, and haven’t mastered some of the more complicated patterns yet, but I can make some beautiful things.

Elaine and her daughter do not knit,... more

Tomorrow afternoon I will head off with about forty of my church friends. We have an annual women’s retreat at a beautiful camp about an hour away from our church. To the best of my knowledge, there will be no other foster or adoptive parents in the group.

This will be my fourth or fifth year attending, I can’t quite remember, but it has been wonderfully renewing each year. One of our pastors, and her sister-in-law help to lead the retreat. They have both become dear friends.

It’s been about eighteen months since... more

This is the time of year when I typically want to run away from my family. We very rarely get away. The last “real” vacation that I had was over three years ago, and I can’t tell you the last time that my husband and I vacationed together.

Yes, there are times that you need to be away from your kids. You need to regenerate emotionally and physically. Past blogs have talked about sending kids to respite, but it’s perfectly OK or mom (or dad) to leave for respite too.

About this... more

I have been overwhelmed for so long, that I didn’t remember what a “real life” was like.

Since we lost our foster kids, Sammy’s needs have been so strong that I devoted so much energy to him, along with various other projects. Last night I started back on the road to a real life.

For several years, I bowled several times a month on a league. Even when I had foster kids, it was my scheduled time out. I really enjoyed it. It ended when our abuse allegations came, partly because... more