ADOPTION EDUCATION, LLC

WAITING PARENTS AND LIFEBOOKS

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PRE-PLACEMENT

I recommend that you journal, journal, and journal. Not a writer? Take scraps of paper and write down phrases, thoughts, even one word and a date. Save emails from friends and officials, printing them out as you go.

Make a list of pictures that will be helpful in making a lifebook. (If you have gotten this far but are not familiar with lifebook basics, go to www.adoptionlifebooks.com and sign up for seven days of free lifebook tips.) Add to your list a rock, a packet of earth, and a pressed flower from the birth country.

Some parents are able to visit their child in his or her orphanage, foster home, or birth country. Others may have only 30 minutes with one of many caretakers. Think about what type of information you need and which questions to ask. When getting referral information, keep asking questions.

 

Written by Beth O'Malley M.Ed adoptee and new adoptive Mom, helping families create lifebooks---sign up for free LifeBook Tips at www.adoptionlifebooks.com.
Copyright © 2004 Beth O'Malley. All rights reserved.