One of the easiest skills with one of the fastest response times to help calm your nerves is *breathing.* Here are 3 breathing techniques that our family has learned from various therapists or counselors over the years!
10 Ways to Support Foster and Adoptive Families
Fostering can be very strenuous and isolating. Foster children have trauma, and trauma responses are often difficult and overwhelming. The same can be said of adopting. Foster and adoptive families need ongoing support, but they might not always realize or ask for it. I’ve put together a list of ten easy ways you can help foster and adoptive families that range from very simple and free to requiring more time, effort, and/or money — check them out!
Being A Parent Is Not Easy
One day I will wake up and everything will be different, easier. Right now, though, life feels so overwhelming; like I am barely keeping my head above water. Being a parent is not easy. Despite the basic instinct to share only the highlight reel as a means of preserving dignity or to camouflage the truth, everyone is fighting a battle that no one else sees or understands. As a means of catharsis – and to possibly help someone else feel less alone – I’d like to share more about my struggles as an adoptive parent.
Our Foster Care Adoption Story
According to a report by the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), there were more than 407,000 children in foster care in September 2020 [“This report reflects all AFCARS data received as of October 4, 2021 related to AFCARS reporting periods through September 30, 2020.”]. That is a staggering, heartbreaking statistic.
People make the choice to become foster parents for different reasons. I’d like to share my own story of becoming a foster (and eventual adoptive) parent.
