by Gayle Swift | Aug 29, 2018 | Adoption-attunement, Adoptive Parenting Skills/Tool, Blogs by Gayle Swift, General Discussion
Last weekend I went camping with my son and his family. Something magical happens when we gather around a campfire, toast marshmallows, snack on S’mores and notice the star-studded sky arching overhead. Good times! It’s a total break from the...
by Gayle Swift | Aug 22, 2018 | Adoption-attunement, Adoptive Parenting Skills/Tool, Blogs by Gayle Swift, General Discussion
Readers of this blog know that I care for my three-year-old grandson three days a week. This is both a privilege and a joy. Trained as a teacher and honed by adoptive parenthood, I am also fascinated at the difference between parenting children with trauma histories...
by Gayle Swift | Aug 15, 2018 | Adoption-attunement, Adoptive Parenting Skills/Tool, Blogs by Gayle Swift, General Discussion, Strengthening Family Relationships
Schools have already reopened in my community which reminds me of the need for intentionality in how we guide our children through the school year. Parents and students all hope for a good year, one that is filled with learning—both academic and relational—and grows...
by Gayle Swift | Aug 1, 2018 | Blogs by Gayle Swift, General Discussion, Intentional Parenting
Parenting has an evolutionary endpoint: at some point, our children will leave the family nest and fly out into the world to carve their path in life. Even as we change diapers, read bedtime stories, or tuck them in, we know someday, they’ll be on their own....
by Gayle Swift | Jul 25, 2018 | Blogs by Gayle Swift, General Discussion
We’re all familiar with the old saying, “Everybody is a critic.” Feedback occurs regularly in life. People hand it out all the time. Often with negative results. Why? Because it is a skill that we rarely teach. As a result, feedback often results in...
by Gayle Swift | Jul 18, 2018 | Blogs by Gayle Swift, General Discussion
All families need healthy boundaries, especially adoptive families because we encounter rude incursions into our private business with greater frequency than non-adopted families. People are curious about us, our bonds, our children and our “stories.” They...