A friend of mine is in the process of buying a house in town. I think she's in the middle of attorney review or just out of that stage. The other day I was on the phone with her and she made a comment about "the house we are not supposed to talk about." Now, I'm a homeowner myself. I think we may not have spread the word around before we were well into the process simply because - well - we were selfish and didn't want our friends to become our competitors in bidding on the house.

But it is unclear - at what point during the period leading up to a major life event does it become appropriate to discuss the specifics or make your news public? So how do you know when is the... more

Going through the adoption process, there may come a time where you look for an adoption support group in your community and can't seem to find one. An adoption support group is an asset to the community for many reasons and benefits parents as well as children involved.

You can set up an adoption support group in your community!

-- Is there an established group? Was there one at some time in the past that you can resurrect? These may be obvious questions to ask, but they are important to find answers to. If there is an established group already, I suggest you try it out, possibly talking to the leadership about taking an active role. It is generally difficult... more

As your child grows, and continues to learn about his or her unique history, it is inevitable that questions will come up - even when you least expect it. And, as a Jewish adopted child, your kid will have even more questions on the topic than other adopted kids who don't have the religion factor to deal with.

Get ready for questions like these: Was I always Jewish? How did I get to be Jewish? Is my birth mother Jewish? Is she upset that I'm Jewish and she's not? Why don't I look Jewish like the other kids in my school? How do I know if G-d want me to be Jewish? What if I don't want to be Jewish anymore? Can we have a Christmas tree like my birth siblings?

Some kids are more... more

One of the things I remember best from my childhood is having a million books at my house. Okay, maybe it seemed to be a million. I had my own books, my sister had her own books, I suppose my parents had their own books, and then there were the collective books of the house. We were all readers - my father made me read an article a day from The New York Times starting at the age of seven. Shabbat afternoons were for reading - actually any day or night was for reading.

And while my parents censored what we watched,... more

Okay, so now that I've talked about how not to take pictures all the time, I wanted to talk about something related that's on my mind right now. Since we all take lots of pictures of our family, we have to actually do something with those pictures. I blogged earlier on about some ideas for scrapbooking with your photos, but I feel that there is a bit of an in-between step. This post will help you - and... more

Going through the adoption process can be is exhausting and time consuming. At times it may seem like you're drowning in paperwork with no end in sight. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel! I promise! But there are a few things you will have to survive first. We - like all adoptive parents - had to have a homestudy as part of the approval process. And, becuase we are an open foster home with the State, we have a renewal inspection yearly, and (theoretically) monthly visits by our resource worker and case worker because we currently have a foster child in our care. And each time someone comes, I remember back to what we were doing in preparation for our homestudy.

How... more

If you have never been to Israel - what are you waiting for? If it's been years since your last trip, but you have yet to go as a family, it's something to think about.

When we officially adopted Anna in the fall of 2005, the first thing that I started to work on was getting her a passport. For adoptive families, especially if your adoption was very recently processed, this is the first step. In order to leave the country, Anna obviously needed a passport. In order to get a passport, we needed her birth certificate - a new one with her new... more

So you've gotten a referral! You're counting down the weeks or even days! What can you do to get ready for your new arrival?

-- Have you finalized names? Now is the time to make sure that you and your spouse or partner are on the same page.

-- Does your child require conversion/ are you converting your child? Is your child Jewish already by birth? Check with your local rabbi as far as what the conversion process entails, or what documentation you will need to prove your child was born to Jewish birth parents. -- Do you need a mohel for a boy's... more

So, you've decided it's time to find an appropriate Jewish Educational Program for your child - or maybe your current program isn't working and you want to know what's out there. So what are the options? Where do you start?

How to find a Jewish Educational Program for your child: Understanding Denominational Differences

The following is a breakdown of options based on the major denominations of Judaism in order to help you find a good fit for your family. Keep in mind that you do not always need to be affiliated with a particular movement of Judaism in order to enroll your child in their program, but your child's conversion status (if applicable) will need to be acceptable... more

I've talked about this issue before, but not for a while. What's in a name? A great deal of thought, time and hope. And often times, in an adoption situation, you are not the only one naming your child. In our case, as in many others, our daughter "came with" a first, middle and last name. When we were able to officially adopt her, there was no question about changing her last name to match ours - she was now part of our family. But we really liked her first and middle name, kept it, and gave her a Hebrew name when she was converted. Here are some things to keep in mind, and some places to look while you think it over.

-- Does s/he have a name already? If your child has already been... more