Domestic Violence Awareness Month: Gaslighting & Love Bombing

Gaslighting and love bombing have gained attention on social media recently. In light of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we kindly invite you to take the time to familiarize yourself with these terms, as recognizing such forms of abuse may not always be...

Domestic Violence Awareness Month: DV does NOT discriminate

October was first declared as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month in 1989. Since then, October has been a time to acknowledge and be a voice for survivors.  Domestic Violence does NOT discriminate. It affects… 1/4 women  1/7 men  43.8% of lesbian women...

Kris’ Corner – When Siblings Move Out

So now I want to piggyback on my last post about older siblings going to college…but now I want to talk about those older kiddos moving out completely. Obviously, this may happen right after high school, thereby skipping the transition to college piece. Or it may be...

Kris’ Corner – When Siblings Go to College

So going along with my last post about sibling connection…another thing that doesn’t seem to be talked about too much in foster and adoption is the impact when an older sibling going away to college. If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you already know that in...

Kris’ Corner – Death, Grief, and Loss

So one thing I have touched on previously, but not really delved into is walking alongside a child who has experienced trauma through the death of a loved one. Now, to be clear, I’m not walking that path fully yet, but I am about to. My grandmother, who turned 100...

Kris’ Corner – Weekend Rituals

Now…I will freely admit that my family is probably not a great example of having a bunch of weekend rituals, with the exception of going to church on Sunday morning. Saturday morning might be an opportunity for us to catch up on some chores around the house. As you...

Kris’ Corner – Summertime Rituals

Summertime rituals… Now this might be a little bit trickier, and open to a lot more interpretation, especially if you have a newer placement. But if you are attuned to what your child enjoys, and you try, to the best of your ability of course, to tap into that over...

Kris’ Corner – Post Visitation Rituals

As you probably know by now, most children (there’s always an exception of course) in care have visits with biological family. But one thing that is often not discussed is the reentry into the foster home after a child has a visitation. Now…you won’t know (often until...

Kris’ Corner – School Lunches

I just wanted to take a minute and share a thought: kids in foster care might like to take their lunch to school. A fellow adoptive and foster mom friend mentioned this recently and quite honestly, such a thing had never occurred to me…possibly because I mostly...

Foster Care Spotlight: Doris

  Doris always wanted to pursue fostering and adoption. In 1994, after marrying her late husband who was deaf, adoption was their first choice before a natural pregnancy. Though Doris and her husband’s mission was to adopt deaf children, there was always the...