My mom will be watching my little one for the next few days, which will not only give me a nice break to have some ‘me’ time, and to get the house really cleaned up, but it will also give me some much needed quality time to spend with my adopted stepson. Being the oldest child, he has to wait for a lot of things, as his younger brother still needs most things done for him, and the oldest is usually expected to wait his turn, to be old enough to know, or know better all of the time.

I was the youngest growing up, so I have no personal... more

This was a real fear of my adopted stepson concerning his birthmother when she was still somewhat involved in his life. He had a big fear that for some reason she would show up at his school, take him out and then disappear with him. With her rarely showing up for the visits that were scheduled, we were not sure where this fear came from, but nevertheless it was there, and my husband and I were having a difficult time convincing my adopted stepson that he was safe, and that no one was going to take him away from us.

He did have an unstable... more

As I am getting ready to head out to the food store to pick up something for dinner tonight, as well as to stock up the refrigerator, which is looking rather, bare, it got me thinking of how much I enjoy dinner time. I had the flu, or some sort of bug this weekend, complete with fever and all, which made me not hungry at all, in fact I stayed in bed sleeping almost the entire weekend, getting out of bed for no more than ten minutes at a time.

I ended up missing out on all of the meals, too sick to eat, and it bummed me out. I enjoy having... more

Since his birth mother eventually chose not to be in his life, and for the first part of his life his father was stationed overseas in the military, my adopted stepson has large fears of abandonment. During his early years he was raised by his paternal grandmother while his father was overseas, and unfortunately do to the work he was doing, he rarely had a chance to come home, leaving him little opportunity to get to know his son until he was about four years old. And while he loved being in the military dearly he knew the toll it was taking on his... more

Lately I have been in quite the rut. Nothing has gone right, whenever I have attempted to complete anything, even down to getting online! My internet connection keeps going down, and tomorrow I am going to have either my husband, or my genius teenager take a look at everything and see if they can rectify whatever the problem is, so I can stop getting frustrated, and start getting online every time I attempt to sign in!

With nothing going right, and everything being such a chore to get done, I have resigned myself to hiding in the house.... more

Today was a trying day for the entire family, well okay, at least for the adults. My husband is having health issues and was in a lot of pain today, but went into work regardless, what a trooper! He hobbled out of the house early this morning grunting, and grumbling to himself, with each step, but to his credit he still went to work, and stayed the entire day. And while his day was filled with physical pain, mine was an emotional pain in the butt.

Everything in which I tried to accomplish today... more

When my adopted stepson was having a lot of behavioral issues, we were running out of ideas as to how to get through to him how important trust was, and how he needed to earn it, and to keep it. Having an unstable childhood and many adults in his life let him down, he did not trust others easily; well really he did not trust anyone at all. He was a very angry boy and was acting out in school, and at home.

Whatever rule was put down, he would do his best to find his way around it, either by finding a loophole... more

1. That they are loved by their adoptive stepparent

2. That they are loved by both of their biological parents

3. That they did not cause their non-custodial parent to abandon them

4. That they are an accepted and valued member of the family

5. That the adoptive stepparent does not love them less, or think less of them because they are adopted

6. That it is okay for them to love their adoptive stepparent

7. That it is okay for... more

That’s right, since many of the other blogs have started the trend of doing a “love Thursday” post, posing a picture which goes along with love, I have decided to jump on the bandwagon and give it a shot!

My adopted stepson has one chore around the house, and that is to do the dishes every night. While he hates it as much as everyone else in the house does, just about every night he sucks it up, gets his hands wet, and gets the job done. Well tonight his little brother decided to give him a hand, and... more

I had written a few posts on the dangers, as well as the damage caused by adoptive stepparents not trying to bond with their adoptive stepchildren, or giving up too soon on establishing a bond with them. There were many times in my own situation where I was so fed up, heartbroken, and too tired to want to continue trying to form a closer bond with my adopted stepson.

If I had a nickel for every time I called my mom either in tears of grief, or frustration, exclaiming, “I give up, I just can’t do this anymore…” well then, I wouldn’t have to write... more