• family - Health - Parenting - parenting

    When Love is Not Enough – Adoption Disruption in the News

    October 5, 2009 - By 

    It’s been a week since my last post, but I have been busily mulling over much in the world of adoption. Many of you probably read headlines about the blogger Mommy Anita Tedaldi who adopted a child and then when she felt the baby boy wasn’t bonding gave him up. It was all over the U.S. media and the Internet late last week. Tedaldi was interviewed by Matt Lauer on the Today Show. She was condemned and praised as people all over responded viscerally to her story. Last week I was called by a Montreal radio show to give comment…

  • Parenting

    September musings for teachers and parents

    September 25, 2009 - By 

    Dear teacher:      I need you to know a few things about my child. She came to our family though adoption and I know this may sound oddly confessional to you, even perhaps a little bit overly friendly. But I need you to know this because I am nothing if not by now an expert on my child. She will need more in your class than many of the other students. Oh she is bright alright and she loves school, but you see September for her is hard. So hard that she will come home and explode several nights before…

  • Parenting

    Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult

    September 20, 2009 - By 

    Anyone who knows me really well knows that I adore Jodi Picoult and am rapidly working my way through everything she’s ever published. Today I finished reading Handle With Care, a truly beautiful poignant story about a family pushed to the brink of breaking by a daughter, Willow’s disability and a lawsuit that the family initiates. Willow has osteogenesis imperfecta and the fact that I can spell that by memory now is one of the many reasons I adore this author. So this is to be a strange list hyphen book review of the many reasons why this author is inspirational…

  • family

    Thriftybits and my First Giveaway!!!!

    September 15, 2009 - By 

    Thriftybits is my first ever roundup of ideas that are affordable for families. I’m dubbing this Thriftybits. This is a post truly inspired by the name of my blog – thriftymommastips. So in that spirit here are my best tips to pass along this week, the first week of September that both of my children have been in school at the same time. Yippee!! And yet somehow this has translated into more work not less for dear old mommy. How does that work? Also FYI: this is my first giveaway. To win a copy of All The Pretty Horses by…

  • family

    Ontario Science Centre Visit with my Kids

    September 15, 2009 - By 

    This summer my daughter, now eight, repeatedly asked to do science  experiments and she would often tell anyone who inquired that her favourite subject was science, so we thought it would be the ideal time to plan a trip to Ontario Science Centre. Our Visit to the Science Centre We visited the centre on Labour Day weekend. Admission was free with our membership to London Regional Children’s Museum. A very big bonus incentive for us to visit. And visiting on Sunday meant we could park on a side street nearby for free as well. We stayed at a motel for the night so we…

  • FASD - Health - Parenting - special needs

    FASD DAY 09-09-09

    September 9, 2009 - By 

    On the ninth hour of the ninth day of the ninth month of 2009 (09,09,09 FASD DAY) we gathered in London’s Victoria Park for a pregnant pause to raise awareness regarding FASD Day. The Number 9 is Symbolic A pregnancy takes 9 months typically. So the number 9 has become a symbol to people in the FASD disability world. Hence the day – the ninth day of the ninth month and this year in 2009 this felt ever so meaningful. The Stats Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, is an invisible neurological disability, affecting an estimated 300,000 Canadians. The numbers are staggering,…

  • family - FASD - Parenting

    Forgetful Frankie Children’s Book and FASD DAY Interview

    September 9, 2009 - By 

    First and foremost, a small disclaimer. Those of you who know me and read me know that I am a Mom of a little girl with FASD fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. So I may be the tiniest bit biased about this one but when I first saw hint of a book for children about FASD I was overjoyed. Anyone who parents a child with FASD struggles with what to tell them and when to tell them about their disability. This book is a way to help parents do that. So what follows here is my interview with Jill Bobula, author of…

  • special needs adoption
    family

    The first day of school

    September 8, 2009 - By 

    Well the first day of school is here and thankfully I slept a bit last night despite stressing over which teacher my child would end up with this crucial grade three year. This year I didn’t embarrass anyone with a tearful good-bye. Payton, my eight-year-old sensitive, bright, mostly easy-going girl, bounced out of bed this morning ready to go, got all suited up in her new Hannah Montana style ensemble. She quickly determined that she was in the class she wanted with several friends she knows well and, bonus, she got the teacher she wanted too. Then she essentially waved me away.…

  • parenting

    Seeing Things/Perspective

    September 5, 2009 - By 

    Some of my greatest insights have come from my children. One of the most important of these lessons has been always remember to stop, get down on the floor and try to see the world through their eyes. What looks insane to us as adults is often very logical or even magical to children. My Payton, 8, is an inquisitive, sensitive and very bright child who asks things that often give me pause and wears her heart outside her clothes most days. She is easily bruised emotionally and a living reminder to me to tread carefully, buffer and protect. Ainsley, 5, somehow sees life with…

  • FASD - infertility - Parenting

    Expert Panel on Infertility and Adoption

    September 1, 2009 - By 

    Last week’s release of the highly anticipated report from the Expert Panel on Infertility and Adoption was well worth the wait to many of us labouring in the trenches as adoptive parents and advocates. While much of the public debate around the report, dubbed Raising Expectations, was clearly focused on the fact that the panel recommends the Ontario government’s health plan pay for infertility treatments like in vitro fertilization, we in the adoption community were celebrating. Many of us spent hours consulting on this report whether by phone, in written form or in person appearing before the panel. The Adoption Council…