As an adopter of two ‘harder to place’ children I would love to write, during National Adoption Week, about love hearts and happy endings but the truth is less marketable than that. Parenting our children, loving them, has been the hardest, most brilliant, scariest, most wonderful thing I have ever done in my life. If you think you may be up to the challenge of adopting children from local authority care then please make the first step and contact the adoption information gateway First4Adoption, or your local adoption charity or authority for information.
Parenting children who have suffered neglect and abuse is utterly life-changing. Here are 35 things that I’ve done as a result of adopting our brilliant children:
- Become a mother
- Met lots of very nice social workers
- Learnt about brain development
- Really understood what empathy is
- Loved a cat called Ron
- Been a school governor
- Lost my temper over a broken biro
- Been brave, taken risks
- Met some really groovy people
- Stumbled upon a writing career
- Written a book, ‘No Matter What’
- Been shortlisted for an award
- Hugged a hoodie
- Watched a Barbie film
- Got really scared
- Got nits
- Got things into perspective
- Changed my views; on parenting, on education, on lots of things
- Made a website
- Become a tweeter
- Become a campaigner
- Got nits
- Apologised, a lot
- Changed my measures of success
- Made a bug hotel (not in my hair)
- Made a salt dough tutankhamen
- Got to know an awful lot about snails
- Experienced anger I didn’t think possible
- Experienced love I didn’t think possible
- Found fortitude I never knew I had
- Got nits
- Become self-employed
- Experienced the best and worst of myself
- Taken some big leaps of faith
- Really really got unconditional love.
A cat called Ron
Actually it is brain science
I’m sorry but you can get nits off children that are not adopted too. Great list I could add a couple of my own definitely.
Thanks for sharing on The Weekly Adoption Shout Out. x
Yes, definitely identify with some of these! My personal favourite of my own is having to stop wearing nail varnish because of an unpleasant poo under the fingernail incident!
Very funny and thoughtful. We’ve escaped nits so far, but I’m not shouting that too loudly. I would agree that adoption and becoming a mother has taken me to the highest highs and the biggest emotions I ever knew possible. I wonder what your next 35 on the list will look like?
Spot on Sally, as always. I’m now mentally composing my own list (lost my sense of humour, found a wonderfully new and different one, learned to cook beige versions of my favourite curries & chilli, developed a pathological hatred of Peppa Pig…)
R x
As an adopted child I can honestly say that it’s great that children get adopted. But as a result I have always had a feeling of not belonging. I’ve always felt different. My parents have been great but I have been asked by lots of prospective adoptive parents for my opinion and I’ve told them just that. If you are adopting then please be aware that it is very likely that your child will have issues. I have lots of adopted friends and have spoke. With them openly about this subject. All of us agree that we find it difficult to form great friendships or relationships, because of the feeling of not belonging. The only people who I have ever felt I really belong with is my own children (not adopted). They are the only 2 people who are part of me.