November 16, 2023
by Maralee
Comments Off on What to be “Aware” of During Adoption Awareness Month
November is Adoption Awareness Month and this year the word “awareness” is really sticking out to me. There have been seasons where I thought of it as “Adoption Positivity Month” and then years later it felt like “Adoption Shame and … Continue reading
February 1, 2023
by Maralee
Comments Off on The Picture that Changed How I Look at My Pictures
My son snapped this picture of me a few summers ago. When I look at it, I am immediately transported back to a moment in time. And that moment was not pleasant. We were on vacation in Colorado. Vacations with … Continue reading
August 25, 2022
by Maralee
Comments Off on Adoptive Families Need Adult Adoptees
This is an edit of something I originally wrote back in 2013 after an interaction with my mom’s cousin, Warren. I wanted to share it again (with some tweaks) because I heard from my mom last night that Warren passed … Continue reading
August 16, 2022
by Maralee
Comments Off on To Octavia, On Your Adoption Day
Dear Tavia, The day we’ve waited for is here and I can’t wait to get you all dressed up in your yellow lace dress and take you to court so we can make it official. I spent hours and hours … Continue reading
June 1, 2022
by Maralee
Comments Off on We Are Living in Adoption Purgatory
A letter arrived in the mail today. It was unexpected. It had a return address I’ve seen many times before and when it’s expected, it just feels like a piece of information for me to take in. A court date. … Continue reading
April 27, 2022
by Maralee
Comments Off on “If applicable, resolution of infertility issues”
The question caught me off-guard, although I’m not sure why. We’ve done a lot of adoption homestudies over the years. We’ve had to answer deeply personal and invasive questions. The topic of our infertility diagnosis has been addressed and readdressed … Continue reading
April 14, 2022
by Maralee
Comments Off on Ignoring Your Adopted Child’s Questions Doesn’t Preserve Their Innocence
I read this summary of a podcast interview with Thomas Rhett about the adoption of his daughter and I’m not okay with it. I don’t want to pretend that this interview was a full description of how he’s handling adoption … Continue reading
March 29, 2022
by Maralee
Comments Off on Some Thoughts on Our (Maybe/Hopefully/Probably) Last Homestudy
I should definitely be cleaning right now. In less than two hours a woman will be coming to judge my home (very literally) and I’m sure I should go take the clean laundry out of the dryer and get it … Continue reading
February 15, 2022
by Maralee
Comments Off on Hey Naomi Campbell, My Adopted Kids Are “My” Children
Dear Ms. Campbell, While the two of us couldn’t seem to have more vastly different lives (you’re a famous model and mom of one, I’m a mom of 8 who just finished eating a Valentine Ding Dong treat she pilfered … Continue reading
February 11, 2022
by Maralee
Comments Off on Stop Beating Yourself Up About Movie Nights
I was smoothing down my seven-year-old’s hair the other night while we sat next to each other on the couch. He was snuggled up next to me and it occurred to me how rare these moments feel as he’s getting … Continue reading