I’ve been reading and digesting Focal Point for two months now, feeling as if they must have taken notes from my house alone. The entire issue is devoted to traumatic stress and 38 of my 39 children fall squarely into that category. One does not lose one’s initial caretaker and not feel stress; most of my children were also abused and neglected.

My birth daughter and I have absorbed much of their stress, we’ve become nearly as traumatized after all these years of going between our family’s gratitude, resentment, happiness, grief and ten million other emotions, it has beat us both down over the years.

Moments of pure,... more

My oldest daughter read aloud to me a make-up expert’s advice, “Find a role model your own age,” which stuck with me. At 52, I can hardly look to the Paris Hilton for how to act or dress.

But, to me, role models are vitally important. I want to be my children’s role models, especially to my daughters. I want them to be educated and self- supporting, or at least have the ability to support themselves should something unexpectedly happen.

I want my sons to choose wives who are emotionally strong, intelligent and capable. Only... more

One of my heroes, Tim Elmore, sends out an email newsletter periodically that I find to be a great source of information, as I constantly search for new ideas, ways to better serve my family, and be a person that my children can depend on.

Today’s email contained the following information, I also went straight to Amazon.com to order a used copy of this book. In their intriguing book, "The Influentials," Ed... more

Well everyone there is a new web site called: The Adoption Buide. It covers China, Colombia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Kazakhstan, Korea, Philippines, Russia and The United State.

It gives you information on The Options, The Process, The Costs and some good Advice along with some Parent areas.

The Adoption Guide on How To Adopt has over 160 pages of how to adopt information. They offer local information for your own state. They focus on the Top Issues of Adoption.

I found some good information there for the novice who is looking into adoption for the very first time. It includes good reading material and questions that every adoptive parent has asked... more

If you love to read and would like to promote reading as a way of life for your family. There are some really cool book clubs that you may wish to check out and join.

One of my favorite book clubs is DoubleDay Book Club You can locate them at: https://secure.www.doubledaybookclub.com/doc/homepage.jhtml;jsessionid=P5Y5I5YNWMNPACTI4EKCFEY?_requestid=64466 Right now they offer you six books for .99 cents. It is a great way to get... more

As summer ends and the kids are getting ready to go back to school. You might want to consider putting your child on a vitamin supplement if you have not already done so.

We know that learning takes brain power and starting the day off with a healthy breakfast is also important. However we know that sometimes the kids end up getting up late and running off without proper nutritional foods.

Thank goodness the schools have been great in offering breakfast and lunch for many of our kids. At a very reasonable cost. But if your kids are like... more

Here I go raving about Kids Health. Com again. I found this fantastic recipe section. That gives quick and easy recipes for the whole family.

What I loved most is that it gives recipes for kids who have different diseases like: Cystic Fibrosis, Diabetes or a vegetarian menu. That really made me happy to see this. It will help parents and children alike who need to learn to cook and eat healthy in order to control their general health.

What a cool idea. As you can tell I really love the Kids Health web site. I think every parent should check it out... more

What do you get when you dial 1-800-Adoption?

Well it is the American Adoption Agency's 24 hour hotline. They can put you on the right track for Domestic Adoption.

They are an agency that supports the adoption of American children. They have a list of why to choose Domestic Adoption.

Domestic Adoption - Why should you choose American Adoptions? Average wait under 9 months Is involved in over 300 domestic adoptions each year Safe and confidential adoption services Large qualified staff Fully licensed non-profit domestic adoption agency

They include successful adoption stories from families who have gone through their agency... more

I thought it might be helpful to share with our readers some of the other web sites that I sometimes brows around and find helpful information. I invite you to check these other sites out and catch up on some of the other helpful information that you may find useful.

http://www.adoptionblogs.com/

http://forums.adoption.com/forumdisplay.php?f=475

http://older-child.adoption.com/

http://www.adopting.org/adoptions/older-child-adoption-toddler-adoption.html

... more