Kelly

spain dad, a baby blog

I always start with the same sentence: many blogging fathers are already a part of a virtual community, often visiting and commenting on each other's blogs. But just in case you haven't had a chance to visit Spain Dad, go there now and congratulate Kelly and April on their newborn, Teo (that's him in the picture below, asleep in a bucket).

Kelly seems to be going through everything many other fathers are going through: First, being a husband of a pregnant woman, then questioning his self-identity once the first baby is born, dealing with the everyday struggles (and the rewards) of raising a newborn, and then finding himself maturing as a person.

This is stuff we all go through, but Kelly is also an expat. As an expat myself, I always find it easy to relate to others who seem at home in two places, while never fully comfortable in either. Now, even after reading his blog, I'm not sure he feels that way, but I can still relate to the idea of raising a family and creating a home far away from home.

---

<a href="http://www.bloggerfather.com/2009/11/36-kelly.html"><img border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_1pINz6H54Ys/SU3gBkuXWFI/AAAAAAAAAuI/JwZ-_jZYtkQ/button.jpg" /></a>

November is National Adoption Month

AdoptUsKids - Children In Foster Care Awaiting Adoption

About a week ago I got an email from AdoptUsKids.org, asking me to remind people that November is National Adoption Month in the US. I'll leave the rest to them:

November is National Adoption Month and AdoptUsKids, the federally funded project whose mission is to recruit and connect foster and adoptive families with waiting children throughout the United States, and the Ad Council are working to educate potential adoptive parents on the benefits of adoption.

There are many misconceptions about adoption. The chief requirement is that potential adoptive parents have the stability, compassion, and commitment to raise a child. There are 130,000 children who are available for adoption, and are waiting for a “forever family!”

Finally, many children wait for years to be placed permanently into a home. According to The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), 44.6% of African American children adopted from foster care have been in foster care for 5 or more years at the time of adoption.

The email also included ways to get more information:

• The AdoptUsKids.org website
• The Facebook page
• The Twitter account

That's all. Sorry for the delay in posting this. If you or someone you know is thinking about adoption and somehow stumbled upon this post, I'm happy I was able to help.

A Quote by Annie Dillard

Young children have no sense of wonder. They bewilder well, but few things surprise them. All of it is new to young children, after all, and equally gratuitous. Their parents pause at the unnecessary beauty of an ice storm coating the trees; the children look for something to throw. The children who tape colorful fall laves to the schoolroom windows and walls are humoring the teacher.

-- From An American Childhood

I probably should add that as much as I love this quote, I'm not sure I agree with it. The examples of snow on the trees and dead leaves might be correct, but there are an equal number of times my boy has shown a sense of wonder. More than that, the sense of wonder is not limited to the New. A sense of wonder is shown every time a bus goes by. A sense of wonder, not bewilderment, is expressed when the neighbors blow bubbles around him. To a large extent, I see a sense of wonder every morning when he wakes up. The snow, the leaves, and the giraffes above might mean nothing to a child, but that only means he doesn't need us to guide him toward Wonder. He'll find it on his own.