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
My Son Speaks Adoption Language at School: A Retrospective
I was misguided and mistaken in 2010. A retrospective on my son speaking adoption language at school in 2nd grade. AM adopted vs WAS adopted?
Returning to the Well: a Retrospective
Would adding her birth mom to my 7y/o daughter subtract from me? A look back on Tessa returning to the well—Crystal—& its impact on all of us.
Interview with Sarah Saffian, author of Ithaka
Interview with adoptee Sarah Saffian. “Ithaka” tells her inner journey from a closed adoption to reunion with her birth parents.
How I Became Persona Non Grata in the Largest non-Country in the World.
I’ve been missing on Facebook and Instagram. Why? A not uncommon story of antisocial social media and really stupid fake intelligence.
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.
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,
How to Avoid Being Gobsmacked by your 18 Year-Old Adoptee
How can it happen that an adoptive parent doesn’t see it coming, their child connecting with birth parents? It’s no fun to be gobsmacked!
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.
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
