Author * Speaker
We’re expecting a ridiculous snowstorm tomorrow, so all of my plans for today were put on hold while I crammed three days of getting stuff done out in the world into one. I hope to post a full blog tomorrow (in between shoveling & chasing THIS DOG as she gallops through the snow). For now I […]
Read MoreToday’s adoption question is from Beth: How do you deal with the fear and/or reality of the kids not loving/attaching to you, and you to them? *** Before The Cherubs moved in with us, when we were in the transition phase with visits on Wednesday nights & weekends, our kids declared that they were not […]
Read MoreToday’s adoption question: What have you learned about yourself through this process? That I hate conflict. This is not new information. But it feels newish, because sometimes the term parenting just feels like a code word for “being mad at someone ALL THE TIME.” I just don’t like being angry. My Dad is like this. He honestly […]
Read MoreWe have a sweet, smart little girl who comes with her mom to our church Life Group on Wednesday nights. I’ll call her Awesome Blossom. She is seven, which means that she looks at #2 Cherub (who is twelve) with wide-eyed wonder and longing. The kids usually do their own thing on one side of […]
Read MoreYesterday I was going through old Amazon orders and came across a whole section I recognized as my “The Cherubs are coming!” shopping frenzy – items we bought hoping they would make the kids feel loved and welcomed, help us get to know each other, and meet practical needs (like how we had one twin […]
Read MoreBefore we adopted, I couldn’t have told you what I’d like about having children. I had hopes, of course. But they were more a sense of what life might feel like rather than specific dreams I could articulate. Once we were IN it, it wasn’t at all as I’d imagined. Some things were harder than […]
Read MoreToday’s adoption question is from Sarah: How do you handle questions your kids have about WHY? *** We had a really good plan for this. It fell apart immediately upon impact with reality, but I’ll tell you about it anyway. OUR PLAN was to focus on the positives. Not in a Pollyanna-ish way, but to […]
Read MoreTODAY’S ADOPTION QUESTION! Steve & I are often asked what advice we’d give someone considering adoption from foster care. It can be hard to answer, because I want to tell everyone all the things, yet I’m aware that each experience is really unique and not everything will apply. But yesterday afternoon I realized one thing that is […]
Read MoreThis is Part 2 of the answer to Donny’s Question: Religion is a big part of your life – how are you raising the kids within a faith-based environment and why is it important to you and Steve? On Friday I shared a about the why. Here’s some of the how (the good, the bad, and […]
Read MoreToday’s question comes from Donny: Religion is a big part of your life – how are you raising the kids within a faith-based environment and why is it important to you and Steve? One thing Steve & I have learned over the past 2 years is that our Christian faith is THE THING that gets […]
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Trish Ryan 