David’s been getting so good at reading and writing recently.  He wrote me a note tonight that just made me so happy that I kept reading it over and over.  At one point I picked it up again, and he said, “That’s just the same one.”  I said, “I know, but it makes me happy.” [...]

To follow upon a post from last month, David has no learning disabilities.  He’s been evaluated by an occupational therapist, who says he’s great and has no issues.  In fact, he’s made one of the intellectual leaps kids sometimes make, where the day before they were struggling, but now they can do it–whatever it is.  [...]

A situation has arisen in my family that puts me, however tangentially, on the other side of the adoption issue.  My 9-year-old niece wishes to be adopted by her stepfather.  When her mother told me about this, my first reaction was “No!  She’s ours!” Am I child-greedy?  Probably.  I want ours and more.  I want [...]

This is from the same interview that I quoted last time.  Dr. Compton has a LOT to say about family and child raising.  The interviewer is Milton S. Mayer. If heredity is not the answer, I wanted to know, what is? “The home.” “That’s a pleasant platitude,” I said, in an effort to draw my [...]

In the 1950′s, Otelia Compton was awarded an honorary doctorate from Western College in Ohio for her achievements as “Wife and Mother of Comptons.”  It was a pretty extraordinary achievement–her children founded missionary schools, ran major corporations, and won the Nobel Prize. Dr. Compton was then interviewed by Milton S. Mayer, who asked her, “How [...]

Famous Adoptees: Alexander the Great   In the ancient world a king could expand his holdings in several ways. He could marry into the ruling family of another country; he could offer ‘protection’ to smaller states; he could simply overrun the territory and claim it as his own. But one of the more creative methods [...]