I am on a short trip for work right now. Missing the family but kind of loving the personal time. Yesterday evening I ambled through one of my favorite bookstores, sitting down several times to leaf through books which caught my eye. Funny how the things that once were timewasters now feel like such luxuries.
One of the books I took back to my hotel room and stayed up late reading was Micky Duxbury's Making Room in Our Hearts. It's an excellent, realistic look at openness in adoption. It hit a note of authenticity that I don't always find in open adoption books--there was a familiarity to the families' stories. And it's always refreshing to read something that approaches openness not as a choice, but as a standard. Absolutely worth reading for anyone considering domestic adoption or thinking about openness.
Now that I've finished it, it's silly to let it sit on my shelf. Why not share it with my adoption friends? Our little city has a decent public library system, but it just isn't large enough to carry a lot of niche books. (One more reason I'm itching to move to the biggish city to the north of us.) Because of that, it's been hard to get my hands on a lot of adoption titles I'm interested in reading. They're not the books that get passed around the Thursday playgroup, you know? I'm sure some of you are in the same boat I am. So if you're interested in reading Making Room in Our Hearts, shoot me an email and I'll send it to you. I only ask that you mail it back to me when you're done.
ETA: Review up at Open Adoption Support.
September 24, 2007
September 21, 2007
Itsy Bitsy Contest Winner
Thanks to everyone who shared a TV confession for my little contest! I feel much better knowing that I'm not the only one whose child has been exposed to less-than-appropriate content. It's comforting to know that when Puppy becomes a with rogue government agent with little regard for human rights, Woobie will working his way up the ranks of the local crime syndicate while Nicholas makes tasteless single entendres and Mindy's girls nurture dysfunctional relationships with acerbic coworkers.
The one that made me laugh out loud, though, was Lauren's daughter sneaking in a viewing of SNL's "D*ck in a Box." She's lucky she has a daughter. I can imagine Puppy one day thinking those are instructions to an art project set to music. Rainy day fun for the whole family!
But without further ado, the random winner of the EW subscription is...Clementine! Let me know mailing address at heather(dot)pnr(at) gmail(dot)com.
The one that made me laugh out loud, though, was Lauren's daughter sneaking in a viewing of SNL's "D*ck in a Box." She's lucky she has a daughter. I can imagine Puppy one day thinking those are instructions to an art project set to music. Rainy day fun for the whole family!
But without further ado, the random winner of the EW subscription is...Clementine! Let me know mailing address at heather(dot)pnr(at) gmail(dot)com.
September 19, 2007
Details
Sorry to leave you all hanging the other day. But I had already gone on so long about jewelry, for goodness sake.
Thank you so much for being excited about our news. That was very sweet.
So we are officially matched, much sooner than we were anticipating. (I dislike the word "matched," it makes me feel like I'm in some weird dating service. But it is what it is.) Most of what we know is private. But! I can tell you that Ms B (expectant mom) is gung-ho for openness (whoo!). And she lives about one hour from us (easy visiting!)
We won't get to meet her until next month. Generally our agency won't connect expectant parents and prospective adoptive parents until the second trimester is over. They feel it's important to not get too far into an adoption plan that early in a pregnancy, to allow women to just be pregnant for awhile while exploring their options. Early matches can create a lot of pressure, whether intentional or not. But I get the sense that Ms B is a determined woman who has her own thoughts about how the process should go. So the agency compromised by asking us if we'd be willing to pull our profile from the pool, but wait to meet until the end of her second trimester. (For those of you trying to do the math in your head, she's due in late January.) I have mixed feelings about the deviation from their normal practice, but had some good conversations with them about when and why they consider compromises. They're using this time to connect her with local support services and continue counseling. She is also seeing a counselor who is not connected to the agency.
Throughout this process I've been praying for the people who might see our profile materials, that they would be supported in their decision-making process and find the answers that are right for them. Now I have someone to pray for by name, as well. It's a nice change. It's interesting, our adoption experience with Puppy's first parents has become so much about the relationships that it's hard for me to wrap my mind around this possibility without having met Ms B.
On a different note, I have no idea why I didn't think to just show you a picture of the necklace. You mean my amazing powers of description weren't enough? It looks like this:
Thank you so much for being excited about our news. That was very sweet.
So we are officially matched, much sooner than we were anticipating. (I dislike the word "matched," it makes me feel like I'm in some weird dating service. But it is what it is.) Most of what we know is private. But! I can tell you that Ms B (expectant mom) is gung-ho for openness (whoo!). And she lives about one hour from us (easy visiting!)
We won't get to meet her until next month. Generally our agency won't connect expectant parents and prospective adoptive parents until the second trimester is over. They feel it's important to not get too far into an adoption plan that early in a pregnancy, to allow women to just be pregnant for awhile while exploring their options. Early matches can create a lot of pressure, whether intentional or not. But I get the sense that Ms B is a determined woman who has her own thoughts about how the process should go. So the agency compromised by asking us if we'd be willing to pull our profile from the pool, but wait to meet until the end of her second trimester. (For those of you trying to do the math in your head, she's due in late January.) I have mixed feelings about the deviation from their normal practice, but had some good conversations with them about when and why they consider compromises. They're using this time to connect her with local support services and continue counseling. She is also seeing a counselor who is not connected to the agency.
Throughout this process I've been praying for the people who might see our profile materials, that they would be supported in their decision-making process and find the answers that are right for them. Now I have someone to pray for by name, as well. It's a nice change. It's interesting, our adoption experience with Puppy's first parents has become so much about the relationships that it's hard for me to wrap my mind around this possibility without having met Ms B.
On a different note, I have no idea why I didn't think to just show you a picture of the necklace. You mean my amazing powers of description weren't enough? It looks like this:
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