Continued from here.

I’ll try to explain what I can understand and how it affected our family. I’m not a medical professional, so PLEASE check with a professional.

Kids who take lots of antibiotics early in life, not only develop an immunity to them, but it kills off the “good” bacteria in their body. When I went back and checked Sammy’s medical records, I discovered that his first dose of antibiotics came when he was less than... more

What do these three things have in common? Actually, quite a bit.

The first thing may come as a surprise, but all three things were covered quite extensively on the daytime talk show, “The View”. In November, they devoted an entire hour to Foster Care, and even talked about foster care adoption. In January they also devoted the entire hour to Autism, and had Toni Braxton as a guest co-host. She has a child with Autism. You can find information about Austism on the show's... more

Rest assured, I will not be breaking out into song or dance. I don’t want to scare you away.

I am headed into Sammy’s room, and will probably spend most of the day repairing the damage he has done to his room. I have another blog planned on property damage.

Hannah will be right behind me, not because her presence or help is required, but she is my shadow. Wherever I go, you will see her right behind me. Some days I turn around to back track, and run right into her.

While some days it can be annoying... more

This article appeared in the Chicago Sun Times.

Judge: No Disney for accused child molester

March 9, 2007 BY LISA DONOVAN Staff Reporter A northern Illinois judge reversed his decision to allow a man charged with molesting three children to visit Disney World during a court-approved family trip to Florida.

The change of heart, or what Associate Judge R. Craig Sahlstrom called a "clarification," came during a hearing Thursday in... more

I put 300 miles on my car today. Sammy had a much needed dentist appointment, with the answer I thought I’d hear. Braces are needed.

My morning started with rising at 6:00 AM. UGH! We hit the road at 7:15, to pick Sammy up at 8:30. Then we drove back the direction we just came, plus another 30 minutes north, to get him to his dentist appointment by 10:00 AM. Are you following all this? After the regular check up, and squeezing in a filling, we grabbed lunch, made a quick stop at home for something I forgot, and then... more

Hannah and I have been “traveling” a little bit since she’s been here. First she went to Lay Academy with me, then to my presentation in Steven’s Point. Both trips required us to stay in a hotel, with a pool of course.

Hannah got to sleep with me at both hotels. She considers this a major privilege. The better part, but she doesn’t know it, were the trust exercises we did.

Hannah loves to be in the water, and so do I, so we both packed our swim suits and headed for the pool. Little did she know we were... more

Right now I am at the Wisconsin School Counselors Association conference. I am presenting tomorrow, and more nervous than normal. But I digress..

There are expected to be about 1400 school counselors, teachers, and other administrators here. I'm hoping to get through to at least some of them. I don't think my message should be that hard to receive, since it seems to be an overwhelming focus of many sessions.

As I go through the list of sessions for the next two days, I see...

• The Effects of Domestic... more

Many of us live with children with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Most people are only familiar with this in the form of war veterans. They don’t realize that “average” people can, and do, have this disorder.

Our children have PTSD from surviving the things that put them into foster care in the first place. Whether it’s one of the various forms of abuse, or neglect, it has left an impression on the hearts and minds of our kids.

But what about us as parents? Some of us live in a war zone on a daily basis. We may be living... more

When Hubby and I took our first CORE training classes, the teacher spoke in initials.

DHS ADD FAS TPR

What? Wait, slow down. At the end of the evening I went home and cried.

Years later I understand now that I wasn’t alone. Most new prospective foster parents seem overwhelmed by the terminology, expectations, and needs of the children.

In the last class we took, I could feel other parents sinking into despair as their hopes and dreams about fostering children took on a new meaning:

... more

In my last post I touched upon a four year old girl who stayed out our home for a respite weekend a few years ago.

This little girl had been diagnosed with RAD – and had a boatload of issues that she’d have to work through later in life.

Unfortunately this isn’t one of those happy stories.

This little girl came to us and blended easily for a weekend. It is often the case with RAD children, that they are quiet and compliant... more