Surviving and Thriving in Bethabara Farms

Started out by realizing that I forgot to do a little project with the boys. Apparently a family in J's class is adopting a little girl from China and the school is trying to gather 100 wishes for the little girl and her new family. I asked the boys what they would want to tell a little girl who was moving into a new family just like they did a year ago. M thought for a minute and said, "I would tell her it's okay to be sad and cry at first but everything will be okay because your family really loves you". If I wasn't already a huge mush ball today, that did it. My sweet boy soooo gets it. I picked the boys up from school early so that we could be home in time for the social worker to come over to sign the paperwork. As I walked in, J saw me and started running up and down the hallway telling every teacher that it was time for us to "go sign our family papers". At every stop he got a thrilled smile. Love their school! As we signed the Adoptive Pl...

Tomorrow is a big day for a few reasons. One year ago today, I got a phone call from CYFD asking if I could possibly take 2 little boys for 8 days of respite with a possibility of a longterm placement. The baby I had for 3 months had moved in with his adoptive family that morning and I was all set for a couple days of quiet, sleep and probably more than a bit of teariness. After securing promises of babysitting and lots of encouragement from friends, I agreed. I was terrified. I was excited. I was in completely over my head. I was gonna be outnumbered in my own house! That night, I was scheduled to attend a training on the Nurtured Heart Approach which ended up being extremely serendipitous. That approach combined with Love and Logic have become the foundation of my parenting choices. The next morning, I went to the grocery store to shop for "kid food" with suggestions from friends written down in my purse. I bought Spiderman comforters, a couple toys and new pajam...