Maybe it's because I've watched the "Wizard of Oz" too many times, but I can't write the word "tigers" without also whispering under my breath "lions and bears, oh my". As luck would have it, this is B week in my little guy's class and they will be having a day about bears. And no nation is more closely identified with bears than the country of his birth, Russia.

A Russian circus wouldn't be a Russian circus without a bear act. You'll find bears on some of the regional emblems around the country, and... more

This past weekend was the best of times--and the worst of times. Ordinarily, I'd say the less said about the latter the better. But to understand the highlights, you have to have seen the lowlights.

Look folks, there is no way around it. A child adopted at an older age is different. They have seen things and have had to do things that most middle-class American kids have not. And when you are different, your differences can be a focal point for taunts. And when your English is still not up to par with the other kids your age, you can't parry those taunts with words. So... more

President Vladimir Putin captured much of the news this week by announcing that he would seek a seat in the December legislative elections and hinting that he might serve as prime minister under the present who succeeds him next March. The British magazine The Economist had a fairly pithy analysis of Putin's strategy, or perhaps stratagem.

The natural gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine went from... more

Two years ago yesterday, September 30, a judge in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk finally wrapped up two days of hearings on an adoption petition. Two years ago yesterday, this judge, new to the family court bench, decided that I would be a good mother for a little boy who had spent most of his life in an orphanage nearby. Two years ago yesterday, I got to tell that little boy that he would be traveling on an airplane to meet a big brother, a grandma, a grandpa and lots of cousins, and to start a new life.

It's hard to believe that it has been two years already, and to believe all that... more

On the Russian adoption forum right now there is a thread that both enlightens and infuriates me. It's about telling a teacher that your child was adopted and those elementary school family tree projects. If you bear with me, I'll explain both reactions.

I've written before that I have told the teachers at my childrens' preschools and schools that they were born in Russia (see "Hello... more

Where is it? Irkutsk Oblast is located in southwestern Siberia. It is bordered by the republics of Buryat, Tuva and Sakha, Krasnoyarsk Krai and Chita Oblast. The world's deepest lake, Lake Baikal, is located in the Irkutsk region. Irkutsk is in its own time zone, which is five hours ahead of Moscow.

What's the biggest city? Irkutsk, which accounts for 593,000 of the region's 2.6 million people, according to... more

Where is it? The Chuvash Republic is smack in the center of the European side of Russia, about 400 miles east of Moscow. It is bordered by the republics of Mari El and Tatarstan, and the regions of Nizhny Novgorod, Mordovia and Ulyanovsk. It is in the Moscow time zone. It is called a republic and it has its own president, but Chuvashia, as it is also... more

Where is it? Kemerovo Oblast is located in the southwestern corner of Siberia. It is bordered by Tomsk oblast, the territories of Krasnoyarsk and Altai, and the republics of Khakassia and Altai. It is in the Krasnoyarsk time zone, which is four hours ahead of Moscow. The region is sometimes known as Kuzbass, after the Kuznetsk coal basin. What's... more

Worries about pre-natal exposure to alcohol hover over just about every adoption from Russia. We worry about how much the birth mother drank, and at what point during her pregnancy. We worry about the trauma children suffer as a result of being exposed to an alcoholic parent. We worry about how lasting, and how severe, the effects of that alcohol consumption will be on our children. For many parents, the worry and uncertainty is too overwhelming. They simply walk away from considering Russia as an adoption destination.

On Sunday, September 9, the National... more

Children in Russia orphanages can often spend long hours in play with meager resources: No crates of building blocks, no bins of art supplies, no dress-up clothes, no grown-ups directing or scheduling the activities. It doesn't sound like an ideal environment.

And yet, I think there's a flip side to orphanage life. A side of creativity and inventiveness, an ability to create entertainment almost out of nothing. I read about it over and over again in the e-mails that Rose Alaimo sent back from... more