There's a recent thread on the Russian Adoption Forum that touches on the school and preschool topic I have started exploring: Do you tell the school that your child was adopted from Russia?

It seems that the mother who started the thread was afraid that the school... more

There are challenges to adopting an older child from Russia. And even though they will be offset by plenty of rewards (plenty, trust me), some of the challenges will definitely leave you scratching your head. Many of the early ones will occur in school, so I thought I'd take a few posts to look at some of the issues that parents--and the children they have adopted from Russia--have experienced at school, and how they have handled them.

First up, preschool.

Back in February, Rhonda, who blogs at "Worth... more

As a single, working mom of two, I have a long to-do list of things that don't get done.

But when I was working on a reorganization of the basement the other day, I came across the box of materials I had put aside for my younger son's life book. There was the journal I kept during my two trips to Sakhalin Island in 2005, and copies of all the e-mails I had sent or received while I was away. There were photos, but I am not the world's best with a camera and most of the time during my trips I was playing with my son, not taking his... more

I had suspected for some time that my little guy had forgotten all his Russian. But several events of the last few weeks have confirmed that, if it is not gone, it has definitely been packed away in long-term storage.

A bit of background for those of you new to this blog. My little guy was a few months shy of his fifth birthday when he came to America about 18 months ago. His spoken Russian was limited and babyish, in no small part because most of his front teeth, top and bottom, were rotted or missing. Another child in the orphanage did most... more

I've been chuckling my way through a thread that began on the Russia Adoption forum last week: "Am I the only one out there who is 45 PLUS in age...," the poster asked, "and have a 5 year old child???"

Get in line sister, get in line. I'm doing some writing now for a college and I keep dropping broad hints about getting them to offer senior citizen discounts. I'll need them by the time I get to my tuition-paying years.

But with... more

When you travel through Russia on your adoption trips you will see them: neat little garden after neat little garden, all laid out to take maximum advantage of the sun, which will soon begin beaming on them almost 24 hours a day.

Some of these gardens are attached to dachas, the country houses and plots given out to city workers in Soviet times to boost the nation's food supply. (I found an interesting piece on the history of dachas here.) Some are quite simply a country... more

I got a bit of good news about my younger son last week. It's just strange how long it took me to feel good about it.

My little guy, who came here from Sakhalin Island just short of his fifth birthday, has been going through a series of evaluations to see if he qualifies for an individualized education plan. The verdict last week: He doesn't.

I should have been jumping up and down, right? No disabilities that affect his ability to learn. I probably should have expected this from all that he has piled into his head since arriving here... more

Before the summer of 2004, Karen June Grant was just one of those gifted crafters we all get to meet from time to time. "Just"? No, that's not the right way to put it: The woman has panache.

But that summer Karen began to evaluate her main source of employment, graphic and Web design. Like many of us, she took what I've come to call a "momventory" because she and her husband were going to adopt from Russia. "As we started to get closer... more

Charles Simonyi returned to earth on Saturday, April 21, one day late, but with a big smile.

Simonyi, who made billions designing software for Microsoft, reportedly spent $25 million of his fortune to ride on a Soyuz TMA-10 rocket with two Russian cosmonauts to the International Space Station. On April 7, he became the world's fifth space tourist, courtesy of the space tourism company Space Adventures, and by spending 14 days in space, Simonyi... more

Every day is Earth Day in our house.

It's not just because I brought my kids out of the country that has the fourth-largest impact on global warming and moved them to the country that is the biggest culprit. Taking care of the Earth simply makes sense because it is our one and only planet. And since my kids, by virtue of their adoption, are already global citizens, I'm hoping they can be in the vanguard of the global citizens trying to turn the world's pollution... more