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
Halloween 1: The Ghost Kingdom of an Adoption Playwright
Boo! Adoptee Maggie Gallant contemplates her ghost kingdom, as well as the ghost kingdoms haunting her adoptive parents & birth parents.
Adoption as a Punchline: A Retrospective
Back to school, where our children may end up the butt of adoption jokes. Adoption punchlines can be painful for parent and child alike. How I handled such a jokester.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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
