Parenting

With the holidays quickly approaching like an express train to the North Pole, people start asking for the dreaded "wish list". I decided to create a wish list that every mom will love. A wish list that doesn't involve over-spending or extra clutter.

One mom's story of meeting her son through foster care and the walk from foster care to adoption as a path to parenthood.

"What do you say to someone you’ve never met but is giving you love and life?"

While many never consider it as a viable option for starting or growing their family, the benefits of fostering before adopting are numerous.

I realize that our NICU stay was short in comparison to what a lot of other families go through, but those 12 days we spent in the NICU were the longest, most emotionally draining days of my life. I got to the point where I literally couldn't cry any more--I didn't have any tears left to shed.

I’ll just get it out of the way and say it up front: I was hugely unpopular as a kid. I was the nerd, the kid that got bullied, all of it. For that reason, and also for the fact that I’m just a nice person who believes in being nice to other people, I was determined not to have adulthood turn out like that for me.

We all do it. We have those things that we tell ourselves during certain situations to help us to remain calm or at least not bite the head off of our children or significant others. Over the years, I have slowly shifted from, “You are driving me crazy, why can’t you do anything right” to “Breathe, you’ve got this”.

This season of motherhood can be daunting. The days are long. Patience runs thin. Free time is rare, and the effort to connect with friends is sometimes more energy than what is left in the tank at the end of the day.

Are you in the midst of a life change? Maybe you’re adding a sibling to your family. Or you or your significant other recently had a job change. Or a job loss. Or you’re going through a move. Do you feel like you’re in the midst of mayhem? Like you have no idea how to keep yourself sane, let alone your family, in all of the chaos?

One of the first things I learned when I had my daughter is that nothing can prepare you for those first few weeks postpartum. No one tells you how much of a sleep-deprived, hormonal mess you are. You ride the waves and manage to keep swimming, but it isn’t until you get through it that you realize you weren’t fully functioning as a human being.