Beech Tree News Network

I am a bad mom.  No really, I am.  I am a mom who starts counting down the days that school starts BACK, on the day they get OUT of school for summer break!  My 3 older sons are involved in baseball and soccer and my 7 year old needs to be on the 2012 Olympic track team (Michael Phelps ain’t got nothing on my kid when it comes to speed!)  Most of the summer is spent driving back and forth between ball parks and deciding which parent is going to which game and who is taking Speedy Gonzalez with them.  So you can see why I love August!  I swear I am just like the mom in the Staple’s commercials that rides the shopping cart up and down the aisles while “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” plays in the background and yes, my children have the same expression as the children on the commercial.  It clearly states, you are so lame (or whatever word the kids use for lame now).

Being a foster or adoptive child in school is not always easy.  Last week I talked about some the intrusive questions that people ask us foster and adoptive parents about our children, but guess what; the same thing happens to our kids when other kids (and adults),  find out they are in foster care or adopted.  If an older child wishes to share with others what has happened to them that’s one thing but when it’s a younger child and may not understand everything that is going on in their life, that’s another.  We find that it is best to teach our kids that it is okay to tell other kids (and adults) that what has happened to them is a very private and personal matter and they prefer not to discuss the situation.  We all know this will not always dissuade someone from making comments or keep asking questions, but at least our children will be “protecting” themselves when someone just doesn’t get it. 

A while back, I was reading a blog of an adoptive parent and they mentioned that someone had said to them “foster and adoptive children don’t really amount to much…”  So I Googled “famous adopted people” and here are my results of persons who were either adopted or raised by others as their own:  Alexander Hamilton, Nelson Mandela, Eleanor Roosevelt, Moses, President Gerald Ford, Oprah Winfrey, Art Linkletter, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Maya Angelou, Babe Ruth, Jim Palmer, Alonzo Mourning, Duante Culpepper, Johann Sebastian Bach, Bo Diddley, Dave Thomas (Wendy’s Founder), Steve Jobs (I-Phone), Rev. Jesse Jackson, George Washington Carver (300 uses for peanuts), Truman Capote, Halle Berry, Charlie Chaplin, James Dean, Steve McQueen, Ingrid Bergman, Ella Fitzgerald, Jesus Christ (technically it’s true) and the list goes on and on.  So for those of you who think that a foster or adoptive child won’t amount to much, you are soooo lame (insert eye roll here).

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C. Denise Lambrianou is the Program Coordinator for Family Enrichment Center-Adoption Resource Program, which is funded in part by a grant from the Cabinet of Health and Family Services, Department of Protection and Permanency and Wendy’s of Bowling Green.  If you would like information about becoming a foster or adoptive family, or you would like to inquire about a featured child, please call (270) 781-6714 x 3 or (866) 842-9032 x 3.

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About Whitney:

Whitney (7/1996) is a young woman who has a very likeable personality.  She is shy at first but then will smile and respond to conversations.  She likes to make jokes and laugh with others and be the center of attention.  Whitney has faced many challenges in life and continues to struggle with the scars left behind.  Whitney loves to go to school and is always ready to go.  She will need extra help in school due to the learning problems that she faces.  Whitney’s forever family must have a willingness to support her at school and advocate for her to have the assistance that she needs.   She recently participated in the Special Olympics where she did an amazing job in the running and softball throw categories, qualifying for the state meet. Whitney likes to listen to country music and she prefers to work puzzles rather than play video games.  She enjoys eating pizza, hot dogs and hamburgers but don’t ask her to eat chicken on the bone!  Whitney dreams of someday going to the beach in Florida.  She hopes her forever family will do things with her and believes spending time together in a safe and happy place would make her dreams come true.  If you are a family who would like to make a young woman’s dreams come true then Whitney is the person you need to meet.