Search Results for: blog marriage and the foster parent

Book Review: Issues That Concern You: Foster Care

I’ve mentioned before how much I enjoy the Opposing Viewpoints series of books, such as Opposing Viewpoints: Adoption. Greenhaven Press now has another series, aimed at students, called Issues that Concern You. These issues include Date Rape, Discrimination, Dieting, Electronic Devices in Schools, Gangs, Zoos and Animal Welfare, and other issues that may be relevant to students’ everyday lives, to things they care about, causes they may wish to support, or issues they may vote on when they become adults. Issues that Concern You: Foster Care is one such book. Like the Opposing Viewpoints series, the book is an anthology … Continue reading →

And Now for Something Completely Frivolous

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We’ve had some heavy blogs lately, in I which expounded on how to solve some of the problems of the world. But hey, it’s summer, and everyone is talking about “beach reads”, just-for-fun summer reading. It occured to me that bestselling romance novelist Danielle Steel has dealt with adoption themes in several of her novels. **A note about Danielle Steel’s books—in some of them, characters have sex outside of marriage. (Plenty of happily married couples star in her novels too.) I have probably read only a dozen of Steel’s more than seventy novels. As far as I can recall, we … Continue reading →

Do Marriages Fail Because of a Self-Centered Society?

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Many times it can be heard that marriages and life in general is not what it used to be. In most cases, it thought to be much worse. The purity, honesty, and goodness of life and relationships is not there. Many have tried to analyze exactly what it is that tears apart today’s marriages. There is now an increasingly number of marriages that do not work. More and more couples are separating and divorcing. Fewer and fewer children are beginning school with their biological parent still married. So what is it about our society that is no longer fostering a … Continue reading →

Foster Dumps Gal Pal and Walters Gets Dumped On

FOSTER DUMPS GAL PAL Actress Jodie Foster is parenting solo these days. According to reports, the movie maven has split with her live-in partner Cydney Bernard. Interestingly, news of the break-up comes less than six months after the extremely private star thanked Bernard for 14 years of “loving support” at an awards ceremony. During her an acceptance speech at a Los Angeles film gala in December Foster called her partner, “My beautiful Cydney, who sticks with me through the rotten and the bliss.” She then gushed about how happy she was with her. The moment was noteworthy because prior to … Continue reading →

Kinship Foster Care

My last two blogs defined kinship adoption and discussed its advantages and disadvantages. This blog is about the related topic of kinship foster care. Some estimates say that nearly half of the children in foster care are living with relatives. This is very hard to measure, as many families may be taking care of grandchildren, nieces or nephews informally. As with kinship adoption, the major advantage of kinship foster care is that the children are with someone familiar instead of being further traumatized or frightened by being placed with strangers. Many children also find living with relatives to be less … Continue reading →

Foster Discussions and Keep Communication Open

Have you ever had one of those stretches where you were so busy and distracted that it dawned on you that it had been a couple days since you really sat down and talked with your child? When this happens we get filled with guilt and remorse and wonder how on earth we could let such a thing happen… As busy single parents, we really have to make the extra effort to foster discussions with our kids–the older the children get and the more busy we all become, the harder it can be to carve out the time to chat. … Continue reading →

Helping Foster Care Teens Grow Up

My last blog talked about a problem most people rarely think about: the high rates of homelessness, unemployment, dropping out of school before gaining a diploma, and unplanned pregnancy found among older teens who suddenly stop being cared for by the foster care system once they turn 18. Many 18-year-olds are still in high school. Many more foster youth will not finish on time because of difficulties caused by changing schools due to frequent foster care moves. One agency providing tutoring to foster children estimated that their clients’ reading levels were 5-6 years behind their age—this means an 18-year-old reading … Continue reading →

Marriage Fights: Kids

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One of the last big thing that couples fight about is children. This becomes especially true when one person brings in kids from a previous marriage. Even when both children are “ours”, parents can often find themselves disagreeing about how to raise their kids. The most important thing to realize is that mom and dad are a team. You are both working together. Sit down, just the two of you, and discuss your goals for your children. You might have exact things you want them to accomplish, such as serving a mission and being sealed in the temple. You might … Continue reading →

Books for Adults on Adoption from China and Korea

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I recently published a series of blogs on children’s books dealing with adoption, including books specifically featuring kids adopted from different countries. Here, I will present books for adults on adoption from China and Korea. Many are memoirs which tell of adoptive families’ experiences. Others are memoirs of adoptees and even of birthmothers and an adoption worker. Others are serious looks at the topics of preserving heritage and the reasons children are available for adoption. Books for adults on Korean adoption: A Single Square Picture tells the story of a girl adopted at age 7 who returns to search for … Continue reading →

Can You Stay Calm and Neutral During Discipline?

Parenting is emotional stuff. We can be so bonded and attached to our children, as well as our role of parent, that emotions rule the day. Experts suggest, however, that remaining calm and neutral during times when discipline is called for can actually make discipline more effective and help avoid power struggles and emotionally charged situations. Sounds good, right? But, is it easier said than done? We’ve all been told that we should avoid using words like “bad” and losing our tempers when our children misbehave, but it sure can be tough not to get angry, frustrated and emotional during … Continue reading →