Parenting – International Adoption | Agencies, Cost, Photolistings, Process https://internationaladoption.org Mon, 03 Dec 2018 22:39:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8.10 https://internationaladoption.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/favcon-1.png Parenting – International Adoption | Agencies, Cost, Photolistings, Process https://internationaladoption.org 32 32 How International Adoption Changed My Life https://internationaladoption.org/international-adoption-changed-life-2/ Wed, 31 Oct 2018 20:31:42 +0000 https://internationaladoption.org/?p=229 Fifteen years ago I was an empty nester and a newlywed….an old newlywed. Okay, not that old. I was old enough to know that when my new husband mentioned having more children it would turn my world around and sacrifices would have to be made. I was old enough that chances of getting pregnant were […]

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]]> Fifteen years ago I was an empty nester and a newlywed….an old newlywed. Okay, not that old. I was old enough to know that when my new husband mentioned having more children it would turn my world around and sacrifices would have to be made.

I was old enough that chances of getting pregnant were slim and chances of being chosen as an adoptive couple for an infant were even slimmer. Previous experience with the United States foster care system made me think twice about that route, so I started looking at other options. I searched the internet and found beautiful children needing homes in other countries! Research led me to Ukraine.

In Ukraine, we found our sons. A quiet ten-year-old with a strong will and determined strength and a stubborn five-year-old who wanted a Mom and Pop more than anything came home with us. I was right. They turned my world around.

Where I had been focused on career and professional growth, I now focused on teaching two little boys what family was all about. Where I was worried about how my home was decorated, I now had slips of paper labeling everything. “Chair,” “lamp,” “door,” “bed” were all English words and letters they had never seen. Where I was a go-with-the-flow drop-by-any-time home, we were now sticklers for a schedule so the boys would know stability.

I was proud of the fact that I had broken a family pattern. My two biological children were well adjusted and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I loved them come hell or high water. I now was determined that these two little boys would also know that kind of love. That was a high wall to climb. We spent a lot of energy working on building strong bonds.

Those two little boys turned my world around to a wonderful place where, “You know I love you, right Mom?” means the world to me.

It’s difficult to say how international adoption changed my life. I can’t imagine my life without it. I have four children, equally important and part of my heart. Two of them were just detoured to Ukraine before they got home.

 

 

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]]> 5 Ways to Celebrate Your Adopted Child’s Culture https://internationaladoption.org/5-ways-celebrate-adopted-childs-culture/ Sun, 29 Apr 2018 16:00:07 +0000 https://internationaladoption.org/?p=145 When you adopt, depending on your who your child is, your family has a chance of becoming a multi-cultural family. This provides you with a unique opportunity to embrace the new culture that has infiltrated your family and to provide the opportunity to teach your child to take pride in where they are from. But, […]

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]]> When you adopt, depending on your who your child is, your family has a chance of becoming a multi-cultural family. This provides you with a unique opportunity to embrace the new culture that has infiltrated your family and to provide the opportunity to teach your child to take pride in where they are from. But, it’s often tough to know where to start. It may not be your culture, or at least the culture you grew up in, so where do you learn more about it? How do you celebrate it? Here are five ways to celebrate your adopted child’s culture.

1. Celebrate a holiday: For my family, we have tried to embrace our son’s culture and heritage by celebrating a holiday that is famously celebrated in his birth country. We try to get together with other adoptive families who have adopted from the same country and we try and embrace traditional activities to celebrate together. It’s not only a good time to learn more about the holiday and cultural traditions themselves, but it’s a great time for your child to be around other kids like them. They can learn that they are special, and grow up celebrating together!

2. Cook: Learning to cook traditional food from your child’s culture is a great way to integrate the culture into your family. Cooking can be a great way to spend time with your family, while embracing some special aspects of your adopted child’s culture. Going shopping to find specific, maybe “hard to find”, ingredients can be fun, too! Once you perfect a dish, bringing that dish to family gatherings, potlucks, or friend’s houses can be a great way to teach others about your child’s culture, too!  


3. Research: Do you research. Don’t just let this opportunity slip by! Learn how they traditionally dress, what the cultural music sounds like, and some things about the culture’s history. I was even able to find a coloring book of traditional clothing from my son’s culture for my kids to color. Embracing the history of your adopted child’s culture is a great way to learn and grow together.

4. Find cultural events around town: Depending on where you live, this can be difficult. Our town does not have a large population of other people from my son’s culture, so it’s tough to find activities or events in our area. So, we’ve had to improvise! There is a local orthodox church that hosts a cultural festival where various cultures are celebrate through food, dancing, and music. Although it’s not my son’s culture individually, the festival does celebrate cultures in the area of his birth country, so it’s a pretty good option in our book.

 5. Talk: Talking about the culture is a way of celebration. Something as simple as cheering for their birth country on the Olympics is a way to show your child that their culture is special, and is now the culture of your family. So, just talk about it!

Celebrating your child’s culture can be such a fun way to not only expose your family to other culture’s and people, but to help your adopted child realize that they are loved, chosen, and special. It can definitely be used as an attachment and bonding tool, especially if your child is older. Learning to love your new multi-cultural family and what that will look like is a part of each family’s individual adoption journey.

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