I'm starting a new category in this blog: stuff to get. The products I talk about in this section are things that have worked well for my family and that I don't hesitate recommending to others. I'm not getting any kickbacks from these products (although I wish I could...) so my advice is pure!

Here is my criteria for music for kids: they have to NOT be sung by a purple dinosaur, they cannot be sung by children, and they cannot be bad music...which happily, leaves many choices.

For... more

I just found a really interesting article about adoption in Dubai.

When a child is abandoned in Dubai (the article doesn't mention how this takes place - are they literally abandoned? are they surrendered?), then they go to Al Wasl Hospital, to Ward 16, "the ward for children of unknown parents.”

According to the social workers, the ward never has more than 12 children, both boys and girls. Some families opt to foster the children because they cannot conceive, while others already... more

Mrs. Hen's Big Surprise, by Christel Desmoineaux, is a wonderful little book about - you guessed it - a hen who gets a really big surprise!

The only bad news about this book is that it seems to be out of print. Used copies are available on Amazon, however, for pretty cheap, so you can still get it. I think this book is appropriate for any child who's adopted, or was even born through donor eggs/sperm.... more

I have been going through my bookshelves trying to get organized and I came upon a children's book I stowed away to review about six months ago, when we moved to this house.

This is a wonderful little book and frankly, I'm sorry I hid it away because I could have been reading it to my boys. In fact, Little J took it one off my desk yesterday (where it had joined a new pile of 'stuff-to-deal-with-sooner-rather-than-later') and ran off with it. He was really attracted to the picture on the cover: a little creature cozying up to its mother.

What... more

I'm starting a new category in this blog: stuff to get. The products I talk about in this section are things that have worked well for my family and that I don't hesitate recommending to others. I'm not getting any kickbacks from these products (although I wish I could...) so my advice is pure!

For the pre-parents among us, you will soon have to make a decision. Do you buy music specifically made for the children or do your children listen to whatever you are listening to? Or will it maybe be a combination of the two?

In our house... more

I found two recent news bits on International adoption, both of which are (seemingly) depressing, but reflect reality.

The first is this quiz by Dr. Joyce Brothers: "International Adoption is Not For Everyone" from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Not sure why she put it in a quiz format, but there you are. Here are the questions (the answers are true/false):

1. It is a myth that orphanages in other parts of the world are cold, sterile places where children receive... more

Since Sandra (our international adoption blogger and reporter of all things strange in the news) is away, I'm submitting this tidbit in her place.

It's just strange. "German 'Superpapa' Busted After Adopting Over 300 Kids" And reported where? Yes, Fox News...

Here's how the story goes:

Jurgen Ernst Hass, a German citizen whose claims were widely published in the European media, was picked up Monday at a hotel in the city of Caaguazu and taken to a jail in the capital of Asuncion, about 140 miles east, according to a police statement.

Here's... more

Note to readers: since I wrote this blog I've done a little research into this book and the controversy that surrounds it. I still think that the techniques that Burns suggests for advertising (which is what I'm profiling in this blog and the next two entries) are valid, but I also suggest you read this review before you purchase it. I think that the review on The Whole Mom's webpage gives prospective adoptive parents a lot to think about.

Okay, that said, here's some of what I found useful about Fast Track Adoption...

... more

A couple of weeks ago I was sent a book to review from Adoptive Families magazine. The book was A Place in my Heart, by Mary Grossnickle, illustrated by Alison Relyea.

I wrote the review for the magazine and obviously I can't reprint it here (especially since it hasn't come out yet), but I'll recap the general idea for you. In the magazine's review I was actually more positive then I really feel about the book since that magazine has... more

I just started reading this newish anthology about having babies called Maybe, Baby, written by people who write for Salon.com.

I'm enjoying it so far. I've read one and a half essays, and not from the beginning, either. I've skipped past all the first sections of articles about indecision right to the heart of the matter: to the people who went ahead and did it. They were feeling maybe-ish, but then they took the leap to the state of babyhood.

I am jealous. I am jealous of them and I'm jealous of Erin,... more