When I was a kid, many of my friends' parents would tell me that 'TV rots your brain' - I guess it was a popular phrase back then as they tried to get us away from watching the tube. I grew up on Saturday morning cartoons (in the days before I observed Shabbat). I got a television in my bedroom when I turned twelve. I started watching 'R' rated movies long before I was seventeen.

The high school I went to was pretty conservative, and very religious and observant. Although the population of the school was somewhat mixed, many of the kids came from homes where they did not have even one television,... more

Yesterday I posted in amazement that Anna had actually slept through the night. My daughter is three years old. To some of you, it may be a shock that my three year old still can't manage to sleep through the night, and to others....this may be your life too!

I learned from a friend of mine about Attachment Parenting. It's a concept I'm still exploring, and you're welcome to learn along with me. I agree with a lot of their ideals, and disagree with many others. Attachment Parenting advocates... more

I think of the internet as a sort of support group that I can access at 11 o'clock in my pajamas, eating the last of the icecream in the house. I spent time on the internet researching infertility treatments during that stage of our life, adoption options at the next stage and now I spend time reading blogs and other stories from adoptive parents.

My husband, on the other hand, rarely seeks out support on the web. We are fortunate enough to live in a community with a fairly sizable number of Jewish adoptive families, as well as a bunch of interracial families. Over the years, my husband has tapped into these resources time and again, looking for advice on the next step in our process,... more

My daughter is a minority within a minority within a minority: She is Jewish, adopted and Black. Right now, she's three years old, and only every so slightly beginning to grasp these concepts. But the road ahead as she develops her own identity will be long and complicated - and we knew that very well going into this adoption.

Anna has recently discovered the term "Jewish" as a term that describes a person, just like "child" or "boy," and has only recently started asking me if so-and-so is Jewish or not. But for the most part, being Jewish is part of her world, and so by default, she assumes that everyone else is... more

I think that as adoptive parents, we go through a lot of losses. There is generally the need to deal with the loss of fertility options and emotional and physical issues that come with that. There is a loss of privacy, both during the fertility work ups and during the home inspection that comes with the adoption paperwork. Then, there is often mourning the loss of time you missed with your child before s/he arrived in your home.

There is another loss, one I've only been able recently to put my finger on. That is the loss of being just another ordinary parent. As open as I am to discussing our story, and as laid-back a personality I have, sometimes I look around at all the other parents... more

I'm frustrated by people who think they know the answers, people who tell you their opinion as if they have a degree in the subject even though they've never walked a mile in your shoes, let alone a yard or two. As much as we tend to advocate talking about our issues and getting things off your chest, there is something to be said for keeping private matters private. For one thing, you avoid opening a Pandora's box of nosey questions.

What is amazing to me is that so much time has passed since we announced to our family in one breath: We-tried-to-have-kids-had-a-tough-miscarriage-yes-I-know-we-didn't-tell-you-yes-I-could-get-pregnant-no-I-can't-get-pregnant-again-Guess-what?-we-are-adopting-soon-and-by-the-way,-she'll-probably-be-African-American-no-we-are-not-crazy...nice... more