Badassamys: Tales of the World's Most Badass Family

I’m a professional woman who, late in my thirties, decided to become a foster parent to three, previously unknown-to-me children.  There is nothing special or spectacular about me. I’m not especially patient, a martyr, a saint, or terribly gifted with kids. My path is just a different one than most Americans choose.

I write here in hopes that foster parenting & adoption of older kids becomes less foreign and more attractive for all Americans.  Sadly, the systems that support foster/adoptive families are failing, so you’ll see information here about how to ask your elected officials to rebuild those systems, or maybe reinvent them.

I also discuss race on this blog, because my kids are black, and I’m white, which I naively thought was not a big deal. Turns out it is a big deal.

After I began writing this blog, the subject of mental healthcare became as important in my family as that of adoption. Between my three there are many diagnoses, including Reactive Attachment Disorder, PTSD, ADD and ADHD, because of the trauma they experienced early in life.

I hope you’ll share what I write here in an effort to begin much-needed conversations about foster parenting, adoption, mental health care (for kids and biological parents), and race. If enough of us become aware of the issues, I believe we can work together for positive change.

I’m happy to talk honestly to anyone about fostering or adoption of older children and share resources when I know of them. Please like my public facebook page by clicking here. If you’d like me to speak to your group, please email me.

Thank you for reading and for sharing.

Shelley