by GIFT Coach | Oct 26, 2016 | Blogs by Gayle Swift, General Discussion, Strengthening Family Relationships
As we discussed in a recent blog, adoptive families are often questioned in one way or another about who the “REAL” relationship figures are in their lives. These questions land like a sucker punch to the chest. Sometimes we can quickly recenter ourselves...
by GIFT Coach | Oct 19, 2016 | Adoptive Parenting Skills/Tool, Difficult Discussions, General Discussion, Post Adoption Challenges & Behaviors
How do cultural misperceptions and adoption stereotypes affect our children, ourselves as parents, and our family dynamics? When movies or books paint adoptees as a “bad seed” or unwanted inconvenience, how does it impact us emotionally and shape our...
by GIFT Coach | Oct 4, 2016 | Blogs by Gayle Swift, General Discussion, Strengthening Family Relationships
Multiple points of view can be true at the same time! Adoption proves this fact every day. We experience this reality in deep, visceral ways. Case in point: adoptive parents celebrate their child’s arrival. Birth parents grieve their loss. Children experience a...
by GIFT Coach | Sep 27, 2016 | Blogs by Gayle Swift, General Discussion
One of the most demeaning questions thrown at adoptees and their families centers on the concept of REAL. Do you know your REAL parents? Do you have any REAL brothers or sisters? In addition to your adopted children, do you have any REAL ones? These questions strike...
by GIFT Coach | Sep 21, 2016 | General Discussion
Would you enjoy a sundae made of the finest ingredients money can buy: rich, home-made ice cream, sprinkled with nuts, slathered with dark chocolate? Mmmm, is your mouth watering? Wait! Let’s add one more topping: thick, gooey hot sludge. SLUDGE??? That’s...
