Becoming a Family: Promoting Healthy Attachments with Your Adopted Child
by Lark Eshleman (ISBN: 1589792602*)
Becoming a Family helps adoptive parents recognize and respond to the signs of broken attachment. This practical guide offers clear and effective strategies for parents to help their children overcome their uncertain past and embrace the love of their new parents.
Practical Parenting Tips, Revised and Updated
by Vicki Lansky (ISBN: 068401873X*)
Here are just a few of the ideas in this book that parents have actually used to make life with young children easier:
Childproofing
- Keep a rubber band around the toilet tissue roll to prevent waste and clogged toilets due to "flushing fascination."
- Drape a towel over the top of the bathroom door to keep children from shutting it tightly and locking themselves in.
Tantrums
- Listen. Acknowledge the source of frustration.
- Whisper in your child's ear. The screaming may stop or turn into a giggle.
- Disappear into another room. You'll feel better and the tantrum will lose steam.
Hair Care
- Sit your child in a high chair to prevent "wandering." Spread a newspaper underneath.
- Remove gum from hair with peanut butter. Work it into the hair and then comb out both gum and peanut butter.
The Adoption Resource Book
by Lois Gilman (ISBN: 0062733613*)
I get dizzy just thinking about the amount of work that went into this resource! I like the fact that the author not only leads one through the myriad of steps toward adoption, but that she is also devoting chapters on parenting issues after the child comes home, and some important longer-term issues about raising an adoptive family.
The Whole Life Adoption Book: Realistic Advice for Building a Healthy Adoptive Family
by Jayne E. Schooler (ISBN: 0891097228*)
ADOPTIVE FAMILES DEAL WITH A SPECIAL DYNAMIC THAT AFFECTS PARENTS, ADOPTED CHILDREN, AND BIRTH CHILDREN. And they face unique issues of attachment, adjustment, and identity. Creating a nurturing family environment and being prepared for typical crisis points are critical in forging a healthy, lasting family relationship. This book will give hope and direction to those considering adoption and to those desiring to improve and develop the adoptive family relationship at any stage.
I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla: Raising Healthy Black and Biracial Children in a Race-Conscious World
by Marguerite Wright (ISBN: 0787952346*)
This superb, rational, and highly readable volume answers a deeply felt need. Parents and educators alike have long struggled to understand what meanings race might have for the very young, and for ways to ensure that every child grows up with a healthy sense of self. Marguerite Wright handles sensitive issues with consummate clarity, practicality, and hope. Here we have an indispensable guide that will doubtless prove a classic."
Adopting a Toddler: What Size Shoes Does She Wear
by Denise H. Hoppenhauer (ISBN: 0595297242*)
It was great to read the honest personal experience of an adoption--both the positive and negative. This book provides a centralized source of helpful information on adoptions and could act as a valuable checklist for those adopting a toddler.