Your child may see you as less understanding than his birth parents might be. Here’s how to cope with teenage temper tantrums.
Just Say “Yes” to Positive Parenting
If you’re parenting an oppositional child or teen, you probably say “no” a lot. You may say it so often that it’s become your default response, or you may be stuck in the perception that “no” is the healthier option. How can you bring positivity back into your parent-child relationship?
Book Review: Kids, Parents, And Power Struggles: Winning For A Lifetime
This straightforward book is perfect for helping parents avoid emotional warfare.
Ask AF: Handling a Difficult Adjustment After Older Child Adoption
A single mother who’s adopting a boy from foster care seeks advice on a challenging older child adoption adjustment. Parents who have adopted older children respond.
Ask AF: Disagreeing About Discipline with the Birth Family
A parent in an open adoption asks what do do (and how to explain to her son) when his birth family uses different discipline approaches for his birth sibling. Adoption expert Regina M. Kupecky, LSW, offers advice.
Positive Parenting for Behavior Problems
When parents expect the worst from their children, they often get it.
“Will I Ever Be Able to Love This Child?”
When the first few weeks of parenthood were rocky, I found myself worrying: Did we adopt a child I’ll never be able to love?
Responding to “My Real Mom Would Let Me!”
When they’re angry at us, teens may bring up the subject of birth parents. Here’s how to answer calmly.
“What the Books Didn’t Tell Me”
When Christopher joined our family at age three, I had to set aside my tried and true parenting methods in favor of the sort of nurturing he’d never known.
Do We Stop at Just One?
Wondering whether to raise an only child? Half of all adoptive families do. How they thrive, despite occasional (or frequent!) second thoughts.
Ask AF: Comforting a Child During Temper Tantrums
Answers to your parenting questions.
Wanting to Be Like Everyone Else
Your preteen just wants to be cool. But how can he, when he’s “different”?
Special Report: Adoption & Teens — The Psychological Background
Adolescence is tough, but don’t worry: our adopted kids’ experiences will usually fall well within the bounds of typical teen development.
Special Report: Adoption & Teens — Parenting Strategies
Adoptive Families explores common situations you may face while parenting your adopted teen.
“Parenting a Child Who Was Terrified of Love”
When you adopt an older child who pushes you away in anger, you learn a different way to parent, to give love without immediately receiving it in return.
When Kids Deny Their Adoption
It’s not uncommon for preteens to pretend they weren’t adopted, in an effort to not be different.
Is It Adoption, or Is It Life?
Five of the country’s top adoption therapists tell us what we need to know to support our children.
“What We Wish We Had Known” – Older Child Adoption
A mom and her daughter share lessons learned about older child adoption.
“Two Very Different Paths to Attachment”
Our kids both came to us at 20 months old, but bonding with each child required very different tactics.
Discipline in Older-Child Adoption
Our older child adoption expert explains what works, and what is sure to fail when disciplining your child.