My adopted stepson will be turning sixteen at the end of this year. With only a few years left until he is out of the house and off to college, lately my mind has turned to the bond that he has with his little brother, and how I would like it to be stronger before he is out of the house and starting his own life as an adult. While I know that he loves his little brother, they tend to have a hard time getting along.

With such an age gap between the two of them, they both seem to have a hard time understanding that each goes by a ... more

So I read this interesting article this morning that said that spouses tend to be copycats. That's right one tends to follow the other when it comes to behavior and lifestyle changes. The study that was done showed that when one spouse decided to make a change in lifestyle such as eating healthier, exercising, quitting smoking, or even getting a flue shot, greatly influenced the other spouse to quickly follow suit.

The study showed that a spouse was five time more likely to quit smoking if their partner had already done so, as well as five times more likely to quit drinking if their partner... more

Like many of the other bloggers here at adoptionblogs.com, I have been facing a major burnout. I am fried, I am tired, I can’t get rid of a cold that the children brought home from school, and I am grouchy…seemingly all the time, yet my kids are wonderful. They seem to sense that mommy is having a hard time, and they have been wonderful despite my less than perky emotional state.

My adopted... more

When you first begin your adoption journey, you may be surprised to find out that there are people out there who do not agree with adoption. Some of these people may be strangers that you meet in day-to-day life, and some may very well be your friends, or even family members, people whom you have known for years, but never knew that they had such strong feelings against adoption.

During our adoption journey, we were lucky enough in the fact that both of our families were completely accepting, and thrilled about the impending adoption. Some of our friends at the... more

My adopted stepson, like most teenagers, and lets face it most people in general, is not an avid fan of cleaning. When he was younger asking him to clean his room was synonymous with ‘could you please shove everything that is on the floor underneath the bed and into the bottom of the closet?” While he was made improvements over the years when it comes to shoving items underneath his bed, a large portion of that can be attributed to the fact that we broke down several years ago and bought him a loft bed, making hiding everything on the floor underneath the bed impossible. The closet however, still remains fair... more

In many cases of stepparent adoption the child is not only losing one of his or her biological parents, but half siblings as well. Even when the children do not know one another very well due to the distance between the two or the infrequency of contact, the loss of the relationship that they could have had with each other is a very painful one for the adopted stepchild.

It is important that both the custodial parent, as well as the adoptive stepparent remember that the child is going to grieve the loss of his or her sibling, along with the loss of the biological parent. The parents are going to have to watch the child... more

When a new baby comes into the family quite a fuss is always raised about the new addition to the family. Everyone wants to see the baby, everyone wants to hold the baby, and everyone wants to hear about the baby, often leaving the older sibling(s) feeling left out and jealous towards their new... more

When we told our family that my husband and I were expecting a baby, you could have heard a pin drop in the room. It’s not that everyone was unhappy with the news, as a cancer survivor I had been told that I would not be able to have children, yet became pregnant shortly after finishing my chemotherapy. Everyone was absolutely shocked, and then absolutely thrilled, except of course for my [then] stepson.

He was the only child in the house, and was quite happy with that. He had been pushed aside greatly after his biological mother... more

With stepparent adoptions being a streamlined process in most states, it can leave parents with a very positive feeling about adoption. Even when the process is long, drawn out and riddled with problems, many parents still have warm feelings towards adoption simply because of the end result, the adoption of their stepchild. Our family has always been interested in adoption, and is thinking of doing it again.

While my adopted stepson has had many ... more

Holidays seem to always be a rough time for adopted children. With the sense of family and togetherness in the air, it can often leave them with strong thoughts and feelings about the people who are no longer involved in their lives. My adopted stepson has always had a hard time with holidays, this past year or so being the exception. He has finally begun to be able to move forward and enjoy the present, instead of dwelling on the... more