How ironic that in my last post (written almost 2 years ago exactly!) I expressed my frustration about supervising my kids in online learning due to the pandemic.  In just a couple of weeks my youngest child (whom I refer to as "Jill" on this blog) will be completing the last term of her school year enrolled in an at-home online curriculum rather than in her regular public school where she's been attending for the past couple of years.   Jill has had some challenges since she was about preschool age relating to ADHD and anxiety, but when she had her first neuropsychological eval ..read more

Remember when I used to write on this blog regularly- or at least more than once a quarter?  Me neither!  I think I have a couple of good excuses though.  Excuse #1- Since I last posted- 7 months ago- I’ve had to study for and pass the most important test of my professional career.  Excuse #2- I started working at a new workplace – initially meeting clients in person, then meeting virtually when COVID cases rose, and now that I’ve been able to receive my vaccinations, I’m meeting both in person and virtually for those clients who prefer to continue meeting that way.  E ..read more

The following is a guest post contributed by Abby Holt of craftability.org. Photo Source: Unsplash Becoming a parent means diving into the unknown. No matter how much you think you know about what it takes to raise a child, your kid will somehow manage to completely surprise you at every turn! Yes, parenthood means facing new obstacles, especially if your child has special needs, but you don’t have to stumble your way through it all. We’ve collected some valuable resources packed with advice on caring for your child through every year of their lives.   Creating Structured Routines Child ..read more

I’m considering this post my personal emotional check-in/answer to the question I posed at the end of my previous post. Back in April I was feeling “overwhelmed” (if I had to choose just one word) when I wrote this post.  Everything was “too much, too fast”.  I’ve been through hard times before and I’d like to think that I’m more patient than the average person, but lately rather than feeling overwhelmed I’ve found myself feeling annoyed and irritable.  I hate the uncertainty in the world and I’m sick of feeling “trapped” inside.  And then, of course, I immediately feel gui ..read more

Hey Readers, How’s everyone holding up?  I came across a quote last month which really spoke to me and I wanted to share it now.  What struck me in this quote is the definition of trauma as “too much, too fast.” which is such an accurate description of all of the changes that have taken place in our world, nation, and our personal lives since mid-March of this year. Another unique and somewhat comforting aspect of this quote is the fact that we are all undergoing a “collective” traumatic experience right now.  Many times trauma can be so personal in nature that very few people ..read more

Thirteen years ago my husband and I went through the training to become foster parents through our state.  This summer my husband and I finished up the training (and are 90% done with the licensing requirements!) to foster through a private agency for a slightly different demographic than we have fostered in the past- I'm sure I'll write more about that experience sometime in the future.  Last year the following article was published in the December 2019/January 2020 issue of Foster Roster, a magazine sent out to foster parents in my region.  The article was written by the man ..read more

        Sometimes inspiration can be found in the most surprising of places. Tonight I let my kids stay up way past their bedtime and watch too much TV.  I was trying to finish up one of my final papers of the semester and decided to stay in the same room with them and type while they were watching The Lego Movie 2 on Netflix.  I hadn't seen it before and wasn't paying much attention except to make an occasional glance towards the screen.  I stopped typing mid-sentence towards the end of the movie when I was so unexpectedly touched by the lyrics to one of the ..read more

This is a summary/review of an assignment I did last semester. Background:  This year I am doing my internship with an agency that contracts with DCFS to provide Mental Health Assessments and Individual and Family Therapy to children and adolescents who are currently in the foster care system or who have been adopted (in many instances) from foster care.  Employees at my work are required to read the book Treating Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents: How to Foster Resilience and through Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency written by two clinicians, Margaret Blaustein and ..read more

You might be in your final year of graduate school if. . . You have only written FOUR BLOG POSTS IN ONE YEAR! Yep, I’m still here.  I’ve just taken a brief hiatus as I focus on balancing my graduate studies with my family life and working part-time.  I’ve been made painfully aware that  it’s impossible to be “perfect” in all areas of one’s life- something’s got to give and be put on the back burner.  And this blog has definitely been put on the back burner over the past couple of years. The good news is that I am starting to see the proverbial “Light at the End of the Tunnel” as thi ..read more

Earlier this year my husband and I had the humbling and sobering experience of meeting with an attorney to draw up the papers for our personal Family Trust.  As part of the process, we had to come up with “nominations” of family members we trusted enough to become guardians to our children in the case that we both died or became incapacitated while our children were still minors.  Part of the paperwork we had to fill out in our Trust included a document called a “Child Protection Plan” in which we also had to provide information for any possible future guardians of our children.  The name a ..read more