Blog Posts & Articles
I’ve been writing articles and blog posts here since 2007. See most recent or most popular posts below, or use this search box. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Ask me. I’m happy to help.
Recent Articles
Navigating Open Adoption: How to Balance Contact and Boundaries
You were committed to creating a beautiful open adoption. But then…reality. When things get hard you ask: should I close our open adoption?
Interview with Lynne Hugo, author of Mothers of Fate
An interview with novelist Lynne Hugo, author of the new book “Mothers of Fate,” which looks at adoption from many angles.
Songs to Access Big Emotions & Facilitate Healing (part 7)
From lullabies to laments, music can heal. Here is part 7 of 7 of Lori’s healing playlist for infertility and adoption.
Marriage vs Parenting—Which is More Difficult? A Retrospective
In revisiting a 16 year-old debate the internet was having about marriage vs parenting, I discover my own problematic thinking.
Open Adoption Advice for Tricky Situations
Open Adoption is HARD (but worth it)
So many parents I’ve talked with are committed to openness in adoption because they understand how evolving from an Either/Or mindset to a BothAnd* heartset better serves everyone involved.
Regular old parenting can get tough, but add in emotionally-charged elements around adoption and things can get really hairy. No parenting guide can give all the answers, but once you know how to set your parenting GPS you’ll know how to find answers right for you in a particular situation.
* To emphasize the integrating of BothAnd, I deliberately do not use a hyphen.
To the Woman Who Longs to Be a Mom and Wants a Closed Adoption
I hear you when you say “I want a closed adoption.” I was there, too, and I had to unlearn a few things everyone “knows” about adoption.
Kohl’s Adoption Video Brings Out the Either/Or Brigade
A commercial shows reunion between an adoptee & his birth mom. SO many viewers are incensed! I hold the either/or mindset responsible.
The Future of Adoption
Reader Question: What is the future of adoption regarding openness? We’ve moved from completely closed adoptions to semi-open (pictures and letters sent through the agency,
Reader Favorites
A digest of readers’ (and my own!) favorite essays. Pull up a post and stay awhile.
Vignettes
Double Feature
Date Night Mishaps
The night my house broke up with me
A night with toddlers locked in my own personal panic room.
*thisclose*
My near-death experience, which went unnoticed by everyone else.
Judgy McJudgerson
A woman at a street festival bugs the crap out of me in a 3-part saga. Judgy much?
Love & Family
Mom badge
I earned it. Holy crap, did I earn it.
My one-and-only pregnancy photo
Paulie, me and Sunny D. Funny (in a take-back-the-infertility kind of way) because I was never really pregnant.
Family of origin of the species
This explains a lot.
Grant Us Peace
3 part harmony with my sisters