by Gayle Swift | May 12, 2019 | General Discussion
Mother’s Day sits in our rearview mirror with all of the complicated emotional baggage that adheres to it for us, our children, and their birth mothers. Hand in hand with great joy, we all grapple with elements of grief and loss. Unsurprisingly, this affects the...
by Gayle Swift | Nov 14, 2018 | Adoptive Parenting Skills/Tool, Blogs by Gayle Swift, General Discussion
Last week’s blog explored how values influence our parenting. We focused specifically on kindness and the importance of teaching our children how to be kind to themselves and others. During a follow-up conversation with my daughter–who also happens to be a...
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 routine of...
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 | May 9, 2018 | Blogs by Gayle Swift, General Discussion
Adoption deeply influences a family. IT MATTERS! Families must talk about it. If we resist or avoid conversations about adoption, our children will falsely infer that their adoption is a shameful secret. This may lead them to have conflicted emotions, identity...
