18 January 2019, by We Are Family (323 views)

Sadness And Joy In Equal Measure - You Are There

I had the pleasure of sharing my birthday with you this month, but it was tinged with equal joy and sadness.

03 January 2019, by We Are Family (375 views)

Three Cheers For New Year

Most of us get obsessed about going back to work, dusting off the Lycra for a jog or giving up our vices at this time of year. But, for we adopters, it's also worth taking a moment to reflect on the amazing things we've done, and choose resolutions that will make us happier, not just fitter or richer, in 2019.

13 July 2018, by We Are Family (822 views)

Bounce Back Blog: Moments of Wonder.

Here are a few of the moments of wonder that adoption has brought to my life...

01 June 2018, by We Are Family (619 views)

Bounce Back Blog: Equally Best

...." The notion that the father trumped everything simply because of ‘blood’ made me feel vulnerable and I confess fleetingly made me consider if my new role as a father could ever be quite as significant without that blood tie...

25 May 2018, by We Are Family (634 views)

Coping Mechanisms.

So for those of us attempting to support our children who come with a range of trauma and problematic starts in life; we spend a considerable amount of time observing - thinking about and trying to work with their coping mechanisms...

11 May 2018, by We Are Family (578 views)

Terminology that comes easy

I admit that I am an older mum, but my brain hasn't gone to mush. I am not stupid, in fact I am quite clever - so why does the playground expectation and language floor me every time?

27 April 2018, by We Are Family (708 views)

Growing up.

I left my nearly 10 year old daughter at home, on her own, for the first time last week.

I knew she was tired and that a 10 minute walk to collect her sister from a local playdate would be met with moaning and groaning, so I gave her the option of staying at home whilst I popped out...

13 April 2018, by We Are Family (220 views)

Parenting is hard work.

I underestimated how hard parenting is.

I love my child dearly and parenting him has turned out to be both more wonderful and more rewarding than I could have ever imagined but also much much harder than I ever thought.

It's hard, testing work and it's difficult to navigate.

06 April 2018, by We Are Family (193 views)

Change.

We sense a change.

A small change, but a real change and - fingers crossed - a fundamental change. Although of course we could be wrong - we certainly have been before....

We think we are seeing signs that our younger son's anger and the screaming and shouting that are a consequence of that anger are being controlled. They are still there, still part of our lives, but it's somehow feeling different. There now seems to be a desire from him that was clearly not there before, a desire to bring our 'battles' to an end. It's clearly a struggle, but a struggle that maybe he is winning. Slowly, gradually he seems to be taking control.

09 March 2018, by We Are Family (520 views)

What Positives Adoption Has Brought To Our Lives.

Of course there are negatives - unexpected worries, stresses and difficulties that we have to deal with everyday, but this blog is just about the positives - which thankfully dominate our lives and put the negatives into perspectives.