My adopted stepson is going to his first Lock In this evening. It is with the AFJROTC, and I don't think that he could be more excited if he tried! For the first time in his life, he finally feels like he belongs and is accepted, not only by his family, but by his peers as well, and the change in him now that he feels that stability and security is absolutely outstanding!

He is more confident, as well as more relaxed and easy going. He is able to brush things off now, and not take absolutely everything as a personal attack, which is a nice... 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

Have I ever shared with you how incredibly smart my adopted stepson is? I am sure that I have mentioned it a time or two on here (after all when your child is classified as a genius, it is news that you are going to want to share now and again!) He tests off the charts when it comes to just about everything. He honestly is smarter than many adults that I know, and has been that way, when it comes to book smarts, since I have had the pleasure of knowing him. His father too is highly intelligent, as well as his little brother, and I am no dummy myself, so lucky for both boys we have both nature, and nurture on our side... more

Okay, so those of you who have been following along know already that my adopted stepson has grown in leaps and bounds in all areas of life over the past two years. It has been amazing and wonderful not only to watch the change occur, but to know that I had a hand in helping it to occur as well. However this evening I was not patting myself on the back over a job well done, but thinking to myself in dread, instead, wondering what kind of monster I have created.

Mr. Antisocial wants to go to the Homecoming Dance. He wants to go to a dance. Those who have not had the pleasure of knowing this intelligent young man may be left sitting at their desks, scratching their heads,... more

With reality TV all the rage right now, it seems as though there is a show out there that highlights just about every facet of life, from absolutely every angle, and today I discovered that divorce through the eyes of a child is no exception. While looking for some background noise to have on the TV while I made the upstairs neat and tidy, I stumbled across a new show on MTV highlighting the life of a young professional skateboarder, and how he manages to balance, friends, school, his career as well as his family, which has recently been pulled apart by divorce.

The show, The Life of Ryan, does a good... more

While flipping through the channels on the television this morning in search of something to have on in the background while I read the news online and cleaned up the downstairs, I happened upon a show that I had never seen before. Like so many other daytime shows, it was a talk show, and my jaw hit the floor when I realized that the host of the show, was the head security guy, from the trashiest of daytime talk shows...Jerry Springer.

Curiosity took over, and I put the remote down, ready to see what sort of hard hitting topic Steve Wilkos was going to... more

I will admit, upfront, that I am a 'fixer.' If someone is in need, I am the first to jump in and want to do whatever I can to help resolve the issue in whatever way that I can. It is a selfish action I suppose, because it makes me feel absolutely incredible to lend a helping hand when another person is in need. Sometimes, most times, things work out fine, yet other times, trying to fix things for others has landed me in some hot water, so to speak.

I wrote yesterday, about how we handled speaking with my adopted stepson about his birthmother, and it got me to thinking... more

Speaking ill of birth/first parents is a controversial topic in the adoption world, as Faith pointed out this morning in a wonderful post. Being one who was raised to be quiet if you can't muster up something nice to say, speaking ill of someone, especially when they are not around to defend themselves is admittedly hard for me. I did not care for my son's biological mother, I did not agree with her choices, I did not agree with most of her actions, nor did I agree with the manner that she treated my adopted stepson, yet I was terrified that if I were to say something... more

I honestly don't know, I stopped counting after 35. Hoarding food, mainly snacks, has been an issue with my adopted stepson for just about as long as I have known him. In all honesty, it has most likely gone on for the entire time that I have known him, it just took me a little while to catch on to how quickly certain items from the pantry were disappearing.

My adopted stepson's early childhood was not an easy one. Being raised by his paternal grandmother while his father was overseas in the military, and his mother was off doing her own thing, was a large enough hurdle for him to have to get over, but add to that, the fact that he was also growing up in... more

A new law in Missouri dropped the maximum age for receiving child support by a year, making 21 the final age that children can receive child support from their non-custodial parents. While some lawmakers are obviously happy with the change, as they are the ones who put it through, others are arguing that the drop in age will only bring around more problems.

Critics worry about the 3,200 college students over the age of 21 who will no longer be able to ... more