Siblings: Nurturing Bonds for Life
December 31, 2017
adopting again, adopting out of birth order, December 2017 Feature - Making Room for a Sibling, hospital stays, orphanage behaviors, physical therapy, siblings, virtual twinning, wheelchair user
My husband and I have four children, two who joined our family biologically and two who joined our family through adoption from China. As more children have joined our family, the sibling dynamics have only gotten more interesting, and are almost never what we expected. When we traveled to adopt Madeleine CaiQun in 2013, her …Read More
Since You Came Along: A Journey to Becoming Siblings
December 21, 2017
December 2017 Feature - Making Room for a Sibling, pre-adoption, should we adopt?, siblings
“I’m a brother.” I remember my oldest son telling me this, despite the fact that he was an only child. He was insistent. I heard him. My son is named after my grandpa — who had had 10 siblings after all! My son reminds me so much of my grandpa. Like my grandpa, he is …Read More
Adoption: From Siblings’ Perspectives
December 15, 2017
adopting again, December 2017 Feature - Making Room for a Sibling, sibling perspective, siblings
Recently, I asked three of my four kids to write “an essay that talks about how adoption has affected them: the good things about it and the things that have been hard.” I told them to be totally honest about the good, the bad, and the ugly, because it would help other families. Then, I …Read More
Two Butts Are Better Than One: A Story of Siblings
December 14, 2017
adopting again, December 2017 Feature - Making Room for a Sibling, Family Stories, siblings, virtual twins
“Old McDonald had a butt,” was the chorus coming from the back seat as we drove from Denver to St. Louis over Thanksgiving weekend. You pick your battles on a twelve hour road trip, and the four-year-old giggles resulting from my kids’ silly song were worth ignoring the potty humor for once. I found myself …Read More
Growing Together as Family
December 13, 2017
adopting out of birth order, December 2017 Feature - Making Room for a Sibling, Family Stories, siblings
Tom and I spent two weeks away from two of our children, Adele and Archer, while we traveled to China to adopt Haddie. For an entire year, our young children had waited for their new sister. They were familiar with her face, and by the time they met, they had giggled together on Facetime. Haddie, …Read More
The Building of a Sisterhood
December 11, 2017
attachment challenges, cocooning, December 2017 Feature - Making Room for a Sibling, indiscriminate affection, siblings
These sisters. One, tall and willowy with long, curly, golden hair. The other petite and athletic, with a glossy, black bob. People often ask me if they are real sisters, and of course, I say yes. Our older daughter, Tab, was well established as the princess of the family when we brought our younger daughter, …Read More
Siblings: Building the Bond
December 7, 2017
December 2017 Feature - Making Room for a Sibling, homeschool, Sharon, siblings
My sister just celebrated her 45th birthday and right after wishing her a happy birthday, I sent a text to my mom thanking her for one of the sweetest gifts she ever gave me… a sister, and two brothers for that matter. My sister was my first best friend and always will be! As our …Read More
Unintentional Twinning
December 6, 2017
December 2017 Feature - Making Room for a Sibling, developmental delays, Developmental System, siblings, speech therapy, trauma
The terms virtual or artificial twinning are common terms in the adoption world for when a family brings a child home that is born in the same year as a child already in the home. But have you heard of unintentional twinning? It’s OK if you haven’t, because as far as I know I just …Read More
Getting In the Groove: Transitioning As a Family through Adoption
December 4, 2017
December 2017 Feature - Making Room for a Sibling, Developmental System, Down syndrome, Family Stories, large families, siblings
“Mommy, when Adeline go back to China? We say bye bye to her tomorrow?” His chubby little 4-year-old hands cupped my face as his big eyes looked intently and earnestly into mine. I had a feeling these questions were coming, but they still kind of caught me by surprise, and my heart ached for his …Read More