When is “enough is enough”?

I read with interest an on going discussion on one of my groups about when enough is enough. An adoptive family had a failed Kazakhstan adoption and was delayed in the process during a second attempt to adopt; while a prosecutor explored legal requirements. The heart break (understandable so) was overwhelming for this family and she wondered if this was a “sign” that they shouldn’t adopt, wondered if they should start infertility treatment again or just accept that they should remain childless.... more

Part 3 http://kazakhstan.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/how-to-talk-to-young-children-about-adop-3

Part 4

Shared with permission

I did NOT attempt to talk him out of his feelings, but listened and empathized. In this way, I knew that he would get the feelings on the outside so that they would no longer have the power to hurt him and he could begin to change them himself. No one appreciates or feels understood when they share their feelings with someone who dismisses them, doesn't accept them, as is, and fails to acknowledge them. Neither do others feel understood when... more

Part 1 http://kazakhstan.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/how-to-talk-to-young-children-about-adop

Part 2 http://kazakhstan.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/how-to-talk-to-young-children-about-adop-2

Part III.... Shared with permission

If parents are going to get beyond the facade of "I don't EVER think about adoption and I don't have ANY questions" they are going to have to learn to tune-in to their child's round-about way of sending clues and also his behavioral clues... more

Part 1 http://kazakhstan.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/how-to-talk-to-young-children-about-adop

Part 2 - shared with permission

Let's look now at where your child is likely to be at age six to seven. At about this age, a child's cognitive ability will take him beyond the concrete, to think beyond the information and opinions that his parents have shared with him regarding how they feel about adoption and having brought him into their family. He is having more and more contact with the outside world and is becoming increasingly aware of the negative misconceptions our society... more

If you are considering going to the workshop http://kazakhstan.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/jane-brown-adoption-playshops-and-parent - you may wish to read some of Jane Brown's work....

Shared with Permission -

Part I

How to Talk to Young Children about Adoption by Jane Brown, M.S.W. Adoption Educator, Adoptive Parent

SETTING THE STAGE: HELPING CHILDREN LEARN TO EXPRESS FEELINGS SO THAT THEY CAN TALK ABOUT ADOPTION

QUESTION: Frequently I ask my preschool child about his adoption, but he never seems to have any questions or have the need to... more

Shared with permission....

Many of you are aware of the widely renowned adoption professional, Jane Brown. She travels the world talking with adoptive parents and children.

Jane is both an adoption social worker/educator and an adoptive & foster mother of nine children, some of whom are now grown. She lives and works in Arizona. She serves on the editorial board of Adoptive Families Magazine and writes a regular parenting column for the publication. She is the creator of Adoption Playshops which is a series of workshops for adopted children age five+, their non-adopted siblings, and adoptive parents in which children are helped through playful, multi sensory activities to explore... more

Many parents want to understand a little bit of Russian or Kazakh prior to their adoption trips. And most certainly for the parents who are adopting an older child and need to communicate their basic needs, they will want to learn at least the basics. That waiting stage is so difficult; it might help to focus on learning your child’s language!

Although my husband and I did not learn any words prior to travel – I did try and thought I’d share some of the resources that I had investigated and have heard about from other adoptive... more

For those of you who are adopting in 2007, it is always nice to know what dates the Embassy will not be open to process paperwork (please note - some are US Holidays and some Kazakhstan)…..

http://www.usembassy.kz/embassy/holiday-2007.html

EMBASSY HOLIDAY SCHEDULE 2007

January 1 Monday New Year's Holiday

January 2 Tuesday New Year's Holiday

January 15 Monday Martin Luther King, Jr's Birthday

February 19 Monday George Washington's Birthday

March 8 Thursday Women's day

March... more

Having been in the adoption world since 1991, the abbreviations or what some call --- adoption lingo --- has become second nature to me – maybe working in the human resource field has helped a bit too! I feel today’s cyber world is filled with lots of abbreviations that have “meaning”. As I have mentioned in my previous blogs, my very dear friend is just starting in the adoption world and found herself lost with all this. I saw a post on another group site asking just what all the abbreviations meant.

So today, I thought I’d blog about the most common ones used in my various Kazakhstan groups…….

USCIS – United States Citizen & Immigration Services BH – Baby House... more

As with most countries, as the number of children who join forever families grow, guidelines that weren’t in place during one year – come in to effect or are enforced during another adoption. Our requirements for Max’s post placement reports differed than the ones required for Logan – we followed each agency’s guidelines and requirements and submitted them. We are approaching our “final” post placement report for Logan this April.

What we’ve learned over the years is that Kazakhstan requires an annual report until our sons turn 18. Many parents who adopted in previous years are NOT aware of this requirement and I often wonder if they aren’t “linked” to any Internet based group –... more