RSVP to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/thinking-about-adoption-panel-and-discussion-tickets-15777595212

Hosted by yours truly – Mimi in partnership with Spaulding for Children.

We will have adoptive parents to speak about their experiences and adoption professionals representing foster-to-adopt, straight adoption from foster care, domestic/private infant adoption and international adoption.

Please repost for folks that may be reading in Houston!

On the 12th episode of Add Water and Stir, hosts ComplicatedMelodi and AdoptiveBlackMom explore the upsides and the downsides of parenting.  We’ll share some of the taboos that we’ve encountered related to parenting and, specifically, parenting adoptive kids.  We’ve bumped into all kinds of stuff out here in the blogosphere and in our various support networks related to adoption. We’ll also share about some of our top parenting trials and triumphs.

On Thursday night, December 4, at 9pm CST/10pm EST, ABM and Mimi will discuss what we’ve learned during our first year as adoptive parents.  As usual we’ll Wine Down with some pop culture and reality tv.

Join the dynamic duo on Thursday night on Google+.

Or catch Add Water and Stir later on YouTube, iTunes, Stitcher or the podcast page a few days later.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and rate us!

Tell us…

Check out the latest episode of the Add Water and Stir podcast –  Episode 010: Tenth-a-versary.  In this episode, we discuss our perceived challenges in being Black, middle class, adoptive parents.

If you can’t watch it, download and listen to it here.  Show Notes for all episodes can be found at our website: addwaterandstir.libsyn.com.

We also need your help!  We are working to build our audience and we need our audience to tell us what you want.

• Follow us on Twitter at @mimicomplex and @adoptiveblkmom.  Retweet our podcast announcements to your friends!  Send us your thoughts about the show.
• Follow us on our Google+ page and give us suggestions on topics
• Subscribe to us on iTunes.  Leave us a five star rating!
• Subscribe to us on Stitcher Radio.  Give us a thumbs up!

This weekend the internet began to light up with Halloween foolery.  It’s that time of year again…the time of year when silly folks seem to think that dressing up in blackface or caricatures of various races and cultures for Halloween somehow becomes cool and acceptable because, you know, it’s a holiday.

Every got-dang year… same ish, different year.

But this year is different; I’m the new parent of a 12 year old, Black daughter.  I’m also Black.  We’re Black (just in case that isn’t clear from the blog title).  And now I have the responsibility of teaching my young, impressionable daughter that such depictions of people who look like us aren’t ok.  That cosigning friends’ and acquaintances’ desire to fetishize us is not ok either.  It isn’t just not ok; it’s some bull-hitsay.

I often tell people that I am proud to be an American, that I love this country…

Every family has traditions and rituals that provide a rich source of family values and shared memories.  These rituals are particularly important for adoptive families as they help to give children a sense of belonging, family unity, predictability and security. However, developing traditions that incorporate everyone’s expectations can be challenging, particularly when considering older child or multi-cultural adoptions.

Join ComplicatedMelodi’s Mimi and AdoptiveBlackMom’s ABM as we chat about our thoughts on creating new traditions with our families and our plans to celebrate the holidays. Of course, we will have the Wine Down with some interesting pop culture observations and offer our recommendations.

Note:  Schedule Change for this week!  Instead of Thursday, catch us live on Google+ on Sunday, October 19 at 6:00pm CST/7:00pm EST.  If you can’t make it, you can always watch the rerun on our Google+ page, Youtube or download the podcast from iTunes or Stitcher.

Check out the latest episode of the Add Water and Stir podcast –  Episode 008: Black and Bougie.  In this episode, we discuss our perceived challenges in being Black, middle class, adoptive parents.

If you can’t watch it, download and listen to it here.  Show Notes for all episodes can be found at our website: addwaterandstir.libsyn.com.

We also need your help!  We are working to build our audience and we need our audience to tell us what you want.

• Follow us on Twitter at @mimicomplex and @adoptiveblkmom.  Retweet our podcast announcements to your friends!  Send us your thoughts about the show.
• Follow us on our Google+ page and give us suggestions on topics
• Subscribe to us on iTunes.  Leave us a five star rating!
• Subscribe to us on Stitcher Radio.  Give us a thumbs up!

(If you’re looking for the actual Adoption Blessing, it’s about halfway down the page.  You are welcome to use or adapt it for your congregation.)

Although I am still surprised to be a pastor, most of the time I am glad that God called me to ordained ministry.  There are times, though, when I  am just in awe of the privilege it is to serve in this way.

Yesterday was one of those occasions.  One of our parishioners has completed the long and bureaucratically arduous road to becoming a mom through adoption.  Several months ago, her 8-year old soon-to-be-son became part of her family.  They have lived together as mother and son, waiting for a judge’s imprimatur of their new relationship.  That finally happened last week.

She asked me if we could do something in church to bless and celebrate the adoption.  What a great idea!  After all, shouldn’t the church do everything it…