Foster Parenting Podcast

What’s a disruption? We give our thoughts on a fost-adopt placement that ends up getting reunified. This is not something we have experienced ourselves so we’d love to hear listener feedback.

We bemoan the bad wrap foster parenting tends to get in the media. We also offer up a review of the movie “Losing Isaiah” starring Halle Berry and Jessica Lange. Stay tuned for the end of this episode. We have a special treat for all of our listeners. You’ll want to hear it.

We discuss the very real problem of social workers who do not return calls. We offer advice and suggestions for getting them to call back with out suggesting a death in your home.

We had three days in court this week. For once, there was an outcome. Listen for a play-by-play. “We receive enlightenment only in proportion as we give ourselves more and more completely to God by humble submission and love. We do not first see, then act; we act, then see. It is only by the free submission of our judgment in dark faith that we can advance to the light of understanding. And that is why the man who waits to see clearly before he will believe never starts on the journey.”  Thomas Merton Mentioned in this episode: Scriptorium Daily “Beauty of Your Peace” by Tim Hughes

Our extreme measures to get Linda to stay in bed have garnered some odd reactions from her. A relational benchmark was finally reached for T and Andrea. Also, we’re approaching (hopefully) another court date and we discuss what it will mean for our family. Also, shout outs to Catholic in a Small Town and Tupelo Catholic Podcast. Check out their shows.

We discuss our impressions of mediation at this point in the process. We’re not too thrilled with how it has gone to this point. Wendy shares a story that has meant a lot to her in the last couple of weeks. Check out this video for more inspiration! We also appreciate our friends, Jon and Amber, over at Monster Cookies for the plug of our show. Check out their podcast.

What to expect at monitored visits. What are they? How often do they happen and why? We share why we prefer to be the monitors even though it exposes us to an awful lot of awkwardness with the birth family. Also: Wendy’s favorite new podcast: “Creating a Family: Talk about Infertility and Adoption” with Dawn Davenport Help us promote our podcast. Click here.

We had some movement on the mediation process and it’s not looking so great. So with that in mind we review for ourselves, why we’re interested in post-adoption visits in the first place.

We finally met with our mediator! So we share all the details about what that process is like.

A question burning in the minds of all of our listeners, “Can you take foster kids to church?” We give you all the answers as we understand them. Listener Krysta gave us a heads up on this video that we think is a powerful explanation as to why adoption should be important to Christian.

We tackle several of the listener comments that we have not had a chance to get into. A whole episode devoted to our listeners! We mention: Disney’s Enchanted A Mother for Choco Siberian Adoption Hotel

A book review of Talking with Young Children about Adoption by Mary Watkins and Susan Fisher. We also briefly mention Adopting the Hurt Child: Hope for Families With Special-Needs Kids : A Guide for Parents and Professionalsby Gregory Keck and Regina Kupecky. Watch out there is a return of the “Listener Corner” theme song!

A good friend and regular listener questions something we said in the past about the appropriateness of adopting across racial lines. So we devote the full episode to that sensitive but pertinent topic. We refer to: The Multi-Ethnic Placement Act of 1994 Talking with Young Children about Adoption Considering Interracial Adoption by Carrie Craft

We had a bit of a “come to Jesus” discussion with our family therapist and are facing some tough realities. We also share what it was like to spend some time with the girls’ grandfather. Tuesday night was kind of like a Twilight Zone episode for us. It made us think of a skit on Saturday Night Live that you can see here.

We’re a couple of days late because sickness has struck our home. But we’re back with a review of Beyond Consequences, Logic, and Control: A Love-Based Approach to Helping Attachment-Challenged Children With Severe Behaviors. The book is authored by Heather Forbes and Bryan Post. They have their own website at BeyondConsequences.com No, we’re not abandoning Love & Logic and Yes, we’re recommending this book. It’s a rare parenting book with a 2 week guarantee and it has helped us. You should check it out. Note: We’re not sure what’s up with the sound quality. Wendy was actually right next to the microphone and Tim was a couple of feet away. But it sounds exactly opposite of that.