March 8, 2017
by Maralee
1 Comment
Well, we recently acquired a 19 year-old at our house and people are wondering about exactly how that works with my much touted philosophy about the benefits of respecting birth order. Long story short– it kind of doesn’t. But I’m … Continue reading
December 2, 2016
by Maralee
7 Comments
I know sometimes people are curious about what life looks like when you’re raising a bunch of young kids. Every once in a while I get the, “How do you do it?” question. While most of the time I just … Continue reading
May 27, 2016
by Maralee
1 Comment
If you were tempted to think your kids were mastering the fine art of working out their differences without needing adult mediation, summer is a great time for being proved wrong. We are reentering a time when there is near … Continue reading
January 19, 2016
by Maralee
3 Comments
I recently attended a foster parent training about how to help kids who have experienced trauma. (Spoiler alert– EVERY kid in foster care has experienced trauma because just the act of coming into foster care IS trauma). My favorite piece … Continue reading
August 11, 2015
by Maralee
0 comments
If you have any familiarity with pop culture over the last five years, you’ve run across the acronym YOLO– You Only Live Once. The first time I heard it, I had no idea what it meant or even what exactly … Continue reading
December 2, 2014
by Maralee
2 Comments
In each adoption journey I think there are turning point moments. Moments where your ideas about adoption change or you feel the pull in a particular direction. There were a couple of those pivotal moments during the years we were … Continue reading
March 17, 2014
by Maralee
1 Comment
If you have not yet had kids, people are probably telling you to make the most of these days. Now is your time to travel, to sleep in on the weekends, to spend your money on whatever interests you, to … Continue reading
December 27, 2013
by Maralee
1 Comment
Before there was this: There was this: This picture makes me smile and brings me back to a time when these three little faces (and about 15 more) were my world. I am thankful to be an adoptive … Continue reading
May 17, 2013
by Maralee
0 comments
You can listen to my thoughts on parenting and forgiveness here. Here’s a summary of the topics we covered: -Don’t push your kids to offer forgiveness before they’re ready. -You may have to forgive your kids for intentional or unintentional … Continue reading
April 5, 2013
by Maralee
7 Comments
A couple nights ago we decided to do a family movie time with the kids. We made some pizza and the kids picked out “The Fox and the Hound”. They enjoyed it well enough, but after the final credits rolled … Continue reading