Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: A listener wrote in asking about encopresis and enuresis. These tips are for handling bedwetting or soiling accidents once your child is successfully potty trained. Resources: Bedwetting and Related Toileting Issues (Article) Helping Children Heal from Trauma Sleep Issues Support the show Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org . We are a national non-profit with the missi...
Jun 28, 2025•12 min•Season 19Ep. 47
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. How do you define self-care? Are you establishing a routine of self-care that supports you to meet your kid's needs? Nicole Barlow joins the podcast to discuss how we think about self-care, why it's crucial, and how to create rhythms of self-care in our homes. She is a certified wellness coach, TBRI® Practitioner, and parent trainer for foster and adoptive parents. In this episode, we discuss: Re-define self-care Why is self-care...
Jun 25, 2025•53 min•Season 19Ep. 47
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: Today's question is about black parents adopting a white child. This was a question we received from a survey we sent out to issues that our audience wished that we would address. Resources: Raising a Child Through a Transracial Adoption Transracial Adoption Twist: Black Parents Adopting White Kids Black Families Adopting White Children Support the show Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www...
Jun 21, 2025•6 min•Season 19Ep. 46
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. How can we get people of faith more involved in helping vulnerable kids and families and supporting foster and kinship families? Join our discussion with Jason Johnson and Shmuly Yanklowitz. Pastor Johnson is with The Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) and is both a foster and adoptive dad. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz is the Founder & President of YATOM: The Jewish Foster & Adoption Network. Rabbi Yanklowitz has twice been...
Jun 18, 2025•57 min•Season 19Ep. 46
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: I want to know how I can help my child/foster, or adoptee with issues that arise out of the blue. There are things that happen that you’re not aware of, and it just shocks you and throws you off. As an adult, it’s hard to know how to handle some of these things because you can make it worse for the child. Sometimes I feel like I need a therapist to help me navigate being a foster parent. Resources: Creating a Family Onl...
Jun 14, 2025•8 min•Season 19Ep. 45
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Join us to discuss how adoption looks and feels from all sides of the adoption triad. Our guests will be the authors Sara Easterly, Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard, and Lori Holden of their book, Adoption Unfiltered . In this episode, we discuss: Adoptee Perspective : 23 adoptees contributed to this section of the book. What are some of the issues adoptees may face? Compliance and people-pleasing Fantasy Attachments Shame Interracial...
Jun 11, 2025•47 min•Season 19Ep. 44
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: My wife and I adopted a newborn baby almost 3 years ago and we could not be happier. Now that he is getting a little older, he is talking and starting to understand things. My question is how can we best normalize his adoption with him? I know it is better for kids to grow up with everyone being open with him and his adoption so it feels like now is a good time to start. But I am not sure how to that with an almost 3-ye...
Jun 07, 2025•10 min•Season 19Ep. 43
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Many prospective adoptive families feel anxious about the home study. Our guest, Sheila Kowit, is an adoption social worker with Adoptions From the Heart. She prepares home studies for both domestic infant and international adoptions. She explains what the process is like, what you can expect, and what you will learn in the home study process. In this episode, we discuss: What is an adoption home study? Is it possible to get one ...
Jun 04, 2025•55 min•Season 19Ep. 42
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: My husband and I had a swift match and placement in December. When we were presented with the case, all that was reported for drug use was smoking 12 cigarettes a day. After about a month of trying to get medical records from the hospital for my pediatrician, I discovered my baby’s meconium tested positive for meth. This lab test resulted on Monday, and we were released from the hospital the Friday before, so no one tol...
May 31, 2025•10 min•Season 19Ep. 41
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Are you raising a mixed-race child? Join our conversation with Nicole Doyley, a biracial woman raising biracial kids, and the author of What About the Children: 5 Values for Multiracial Families . Terminology: what is preferred-biracial, mixed race, multi-racial, mixed? Biracial includes Black/White, Black/Asian, White/Asian, Hispanic/Black, Indigenous/Black/Hispanic. In this interview, we are talking about mixed-race, but famili...
May 28, 2025•53 min•Season 19Ep. 41
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: For three months now, we’ve been fostering our 17-year-old son, with the intention of adopting. My question is regarding attachment. How can you tell if the child is setting up boundaries or testing you to see how hard you’ll pursue/run after them? Resources: Creating and Cultivating Attachment (Resource page) Helping a Child Heal from Trauma (Resource page) Transitioning a Child to Your Home (Resource page) Support the...
May 24, 2025•10 min•Season 19Ep. 40
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Are you a professional working with kinship caregivers? You need to listen to this interview with Dr. Tyreasa Washington, is a nationally and internationally recognized scholar specializing in kinship care families (e.g., grandparents raising grandchildren). She is a Distinguished Senior Scholar for Child Welfare at Child Trends, the leading research organization in the United States focused solely on improving the lives of child...
May 21, 2025•46 min•Season 19Ep. 39
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: How can prospective parents manage their thoughts and emotions while waiting to be matched with a child (especially in cases where the waiting period is a long one)? Resources: Suggested Books for Adoption Coping Mechanisms for the Waiting (Article) Creating a Family Online Support Group Support the show Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org . We are a national non-profi...
May 17, 2025•10 min•Season 19Ep. 38
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Are you considering adopting from foster care or becoming a foster parent? Join us to discuss this topic with Dr. Lindsay Terrell, a pediatrician and Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center, as well as the Clinical Director of their Foster Care Clinic. She and her husband are licensed foster parents. In this episode, we discuss: The common risk factors that foster parents and those wa...
May 14, 2025•52 min•Season 19Ep. 37
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: On the 2025 Adoption Tax Credit Episode, it was mentioned that they thought this would possibly be the year it becomes refundable. Does that only apply to finalizations in 2025, or will it make previous adoptions (if within the 5-year tax credit range) refundable too? For example, an adoption finalized in 2023 but we haven’t used all of the tax credit available. Does the remaining amount become refundable, too? ~Oklahom...
May 10, 2025•4 min•Season 19Ep. 36
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Are you considering fostering but are concerned about how it impacts the kids already living in your home? Join us for a conversation with Michelle Snyder, a foster, adoptive, and bio mom, and her son, Ben, to hear their stories of fostering and how it impacted their family. They are co-authors of Beyond Blood: How Being a Foster Brother Shattered My World and Rebuilt It. In this episode, we discuss: Ben - How old were you when y...
May 07, 2025•54 min•Season 19Ep. 35
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: How do I respond in the moment when my child is melting down, including physical or verbal aggression? Resources: Practical Tips to Help Your Kids Manage Stress The Ideal Response: How to Maintain Connection When Correcting Your Child How to Maintain Connection When Your Child Struggles with Anger Support the show Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org . We are a national...
May 03, 2025•12 min•Season 19Ep. 34
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Have you thought about adopting a baby, but long for the experience of being pregnant, or want to control the intrauterine environment? Join us for this fascinating discussion about embryo donation/adoption with Dr. Craig Sweet with Embryo Donation International, Mark Mellinger with the National Embryo Donation Center, and Beth Button with the Snowflakes Embryo Adoption Program. In this episode, we discuss: The IVF process. Remai...
Apr 30, 2025•58 min•Season 19Ep. 33
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: Is it important to keep a young child or baby’s birth-given name? How often, if ever, do expectant mothers let adopting parents name the baby in private adoptions? Resources: Understanding the Birth Parent's Experience Open Adoption Creating a Family Online Facebook Support Group Support the show Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org . We are a national non-profit with t...
Apr 26, 2025•5 min•Season 19Ep. 32
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Do you want to raise kids who you will like and want to hang out with as adults? Listen to this interview with Dr. Ginsburg, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and professor of pediatrics at U Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine. He is the author of Lighthouse Parenting: Raising Your Child With Loving Guidance for a Lifelong Bond , and the founder of the Center for Parent and Teen Communication. In this episode,...
Apr 23, 2025•58 min•Season 19Ep. 31
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: My husband and I started the adoption process a few months ago and we just matched with an expectant mom. We are obviously excited, but we also know that a lot can happen or change between now and her due date. My question is two fold. (1) Although a lot of people in our life know we are going through the adoption process, who should we tell beyond our immediate families? (2) I am a small business owner. Since we are ad...
Apr 19, 2025•7 min•Season 19Ep. 30
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Do you suspect (or know) that your child was exposed to alcohol or drugs during pregnancy? We discuss tips for how to best work with these children with Dr. Robin Gurwitch, a professor at Duke University’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Center for Child and Family Health. In this episode, we discuss: How does prenatal exposure to alcohol or drugs affect children at different ages? Oftentimes adoptive, fo...
Apr 16, 2025•57 min•Season 19Ep. 29
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: Hello, I am a single parent by choice and a hopeful adoptive parent. I've been working with an agency and waiting to be matched for a domestic infant adoption since this summer, and I haven't had much luck. I'm starting to wonder if expectant parents think single parents are not a good choice for their baby. In my profile book, I emphasize my financial stability and support of a network of family and friends, but is tha...
Apr 12, 2025•5 min•Season 19Ep. 28
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Are you considering adopting or fostering a child who was exposed prenatally to opioids or opioid-use treatment medication, such as Buprenorphine, methadone, and Suboxone? Are you a grandparent or aunt raising a child who was exposed? Join our discussion with Dr. Jennifer McAllister, the Medical Director of the NOWS Follow-Up Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the Medical Director of the University of Cin...
Apr 09, 2025•47 min•Season 19Ep. 27
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: Can you talk about how being transracially adopted effects how adoptee’s children were raised? Both of my parents were transracially adopted and I don’t feel like there’s anyone else who can share this unique experience and I just want to understand better. Resources: Generational Impacts of Adoption Raising a Child Through Transracial Adoption (Resource page) Suggested Books for Adults on Transracial Adoption Support t...
Apr 05, 2025•6 min•Season 19Ep. 27
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Do your kids fight? Does it drive you crazy. Join us to learn some helpful tips for handling sibling rivalry and fighting. Our guest is Dr. Laura Markham, a clinical psychologist and author of several books, including Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids and Peaceful Parent, Happy Siblings: How To Stop the Fighting and Raise Friends for Life . In this episode, we discuss: Why do siblings squabble? How is sibling rivalry and sibling fighti...
Apr 02, 2025•55 min•Season 19Ep. 26
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: I wish I had known what to expect when a child with trauma hit the teen years. Maybe a book suggestion of what to expect or resources on what may show up and how to handle it. Puberty and the teen years have hit our family HARD. I also notice other families with adopted children going through the same or similar things. ~Rebecca from Kansas Resources: Therapy Resources for Adoptive, Foster, and Kinship Families Center f...
Mar 29, 2025•12 min•Season 19Ep. 25
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Why is kinship care important, and what are some of the challenges? Our guests are Gregory Jones, a granddad raising five grandkids from birth to now ranging in age from 9 to 12; Ana Beltran, an attorney, and director of the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network: A National Technical Assistance Center; and Erica Burgess, a social worker with over 25 years of experience in child welfare, specializing in kinship care. In this...
Mar 26, 2025•53 min•Season 19Ep. 24
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Question: My husband and I are in the process of growing our family through adoption. It would be a domestic infant adoption, and we are hoping to cultivate a long-term relationship with the future baby’s birth family. I noticed that whenever I feel hesitation when thinking about openness, I can bring myself back down to earth by recognizing that any hesitation results from making things about ME, not the baby or birth family. Th...
Mar 22, 2025•7 min•Season 19Ep. 23
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom. Are your child's birth parents struggling with addiction, mental illness, or intellectual disability? If so, join us for this discussion with Teresa Bradley, a psychotherapist with over 17 years of experience in addiction counseling and mental health. She is a Master Addiction Counselor, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapist, and clinical trainer at Amerigroup. In this episode, we discuss: Substance Abuse Disorders What a...
Mar 19, 2025•52 min•Season 19Ep. 22
