by GIFT Coach | Mar 19, 2014 | Adoptive Parenting Skills/Tool, Blogs by Gayle Swift, Blogs by Joann DiStefano
Adoption is complicated and unless parents are adoptees, we can never completely understand the experience. Love and positive intentions will carry us far but we must rely on our children to speak the truth of their world. We must set a context where our kids feel...
by GIFT Coach | Mar 16, 2014 | Blogs by Gayle Swift, General Discussion
At GIFT, we focus on Growing Intentional Families Together in all aspects of family life. Bedtime is one of those parts of family living that can benefit from intentionality. Many kids resist ending their activities. Bedtime can be a source of tension and frustration....
by GIFT Coach | Mar 13, 2014 | Blogs by Gayle Swift, Blogs by Joann DiStefano, General Discussion
Adoptive families—whether they’ve adopted transracially or not—experience being seen as different and sometimes, as “less than” other families. Living as a multicultural family amplifies the obvious differences and the frequency of encountering prejudice. In...
by GIFT Coach | Mar 6, 2014 | Blogs by Gayle Swift, Blogs by Joann DiStefano, General Discussion
Adoptive parents frequently hear themselves called heroes for choosing to adopt. While it is intended as a compliment, there is a subtle negative judgment implied: our children are perceived as burdens they’d never have the courage to shoulder. What is the effect of...
by GIFT Coach | Mar 2, 2014 | Adoptive Parenting Skills/Tool, Blogs by Gayle Swift, Blogs by Joann DiStefano, Difficult Discussions, General Discussion
Split at the Root: a Memoir of Love and Identity, packs a riveting story. Against a lush tropical backdrop, a remarkable story of transracial “adoption” unfolds. As an adoption coach and an adoptive parent, I found her story riveting. It kept me up late...
