Chris, Ryan, and Kayla talk about how being an empathetic listener to our children's stories can help with their healing, and why it's important for us to tell our own stories to others to help in our own healing. For when we learn to how to help heal ourselves, we can help our children in [...]
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How Do We Deal With Drama?
Some of our kids have big emotions. Chris talks with Ryan and Kayla about how we deal with drama when the emotions go from big to bigger to biggest. [podbean resource="episode=mjufj-97d457" type="audio-square" height="400" skin="8" fonts="Helvetica" auto="0" download="1" rtl="0"] Resources Mentioned in the Episode Harry Chapin - The Cat's in the Cradle One Big Happy Home [...]
Keep Your Balance
I can still remember all of the babies we cared for over the years. While they were all unique, they all had one thing in common; being swaddled tight helped them sleep well. They loved the security that being wrapped tightly in the blanket provided. But it wasn’t only the swaddling that helped them sleep, [...]
What is the Impact of Foster Care on Kids in Our Home?
Listener Jamie asks, how do we prepare the kids already in our home for the journey into foster care? This is something as parents we do not always consider, especially if the kids already in our home are very young. Chris talks with Ryan and Kayla about ways to help kids prepare for and deal [...]
Preparing Those Who Are Walking Alongside You
Listener Jamie asks the team about resources for family members and friends to help educate them on how they can best support their family as they navigate foster care and adoption journeys. [podbean resource="episode=ukvtf-94d616" type="audio-square" height="400" skin="8" fonts="Helvetica" auto="0" download="1" rtl="0"] Resources Mentioned in the Episode The Whole Brain Child TBRI Overview Video The Science [...]
5 Books For Your Summer Reading List
School’s out for the summer, so we thought we would share some of our favorite books with you. Each one of these has changed the way we look at the world and has impacted how we understand ourselves and our family. In short, each of these books has changed the way we relate to people [...]
How to Love Our Children When We Don’t Like Them
Whether we admit it or not, it's a thought adoptive and foster parents have at least once: how do I love my child when I don't like them? Chris, Kayla, and Ryan explore this in detail, starting with the need to continually remember behavior is an expression of a need. We need to do the [...]
Preparing Kids for Summer Camp
Listener Jeremy wants to know about prepping kids from hard places for summer camps, so Ryan, Kayla, and Chris discuss the best ways to manage this. They also discuss how those working at these camps might be able to help out in that environment. Resources Mentioned in the Episode Sky Ranch @ Horn Creek Adoptive [...]
Stuck
I don't like feeling stuck. Not physically stuck, although I don't particularly care for that either, but emotionally stuck. A place where my emotions seem to take over at a moments notice. I seem to be sailing through my day and wham, out of nowhere I get an email that rattles me. Someone makes a [...]
Our Kids are Watching and Learning
I truly believe that parenting is a leadership exercise. We are responsible for teaching and mentoring our children, we are their leaders. The mentoring part is so important because they learn more by watching what we do than they do from us instructing them. Some behaviors are taught, but most of them are caught. There [...]