Susan Badeau

Yesterday, I wrote about 2 parenting lessons gained from team sports:

1. The team is bigger than it looks from the stands, and

2. You play like you practice

Today, I’d like to share 2 additi...

Late March is a particularly wonderful time for sports fans.

First there is the collegiate basketball extravaganza known fondly as “March Madness.” Nothing better than college hoops for drama, excitement, and loads of Cinderella stories.

Gold, Silver, Bronze and Oscar . . . .

It has been a season of awards. Who doesn’t like to be recognized for hard work and accomplishments?

Wouldn’t it be great if we lived in a world where every small child could aspire to standing on a podium and receiving a gold medal...

There is just something about the power of homemade soup– don’t you agree?

While “chicken soup” is an almost universal symbol of comfort food, nearly every culture has their own version of a warm, comforting dish that expresses being loved and cared for – whether it is Pho, or Matzo Ball...

This week, while struggling to concentrate on a writing project, I took a break and checked in on Facebook.

While there, this story caught my eye and it has been haunting me ever since. http://madamenoire.com/119071/dead-3-years-and-no-one-notices-film-explores-the-life-and-death-of-joyce-vincent/  

We all wear masks at times – don’t we? - Sometimes it might be intentional – to portray ourselves as something other than we are while at other times a mask may come over us without our awareness – maybe as a form of self protection, lack of confidence in a given situation, or excitement.

What’s most important is to always remember who we are behind the mask.

Just a few days ago, Davion Only spoke to his church about his desire for a family.  His pleas were video-taped, and the story quickly went viral. (read more here  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/17/davion-only-orphan-new-family_n_4117312.html 

As a parent who has adopted 20 children, 7 of whom were teens when they joined our family, AND ...

Just thought my blog-readers might have an interest in these two radio interviews I did with the You Gotta Believe "Adopting Teens and Tweens" program this year - one this week, and one earlier.  The earlier one has a lot of trauma information in it, the new one is about the themes of commitment to our kids even when the going gets rough.  

New one:  

For some, the feeling of being “home” is deeply rooted in a specific place.

But for those who grew up in foster care, or military, circus or missionary families or those whose physical homes have been destroyed by fire, flood, tornado, hurricane or war, home is not generally defined by a place.

Today, while walking in my neighborhood, a bright purple blossom caught my eye.

I stopped to admire it, and noticed that on the very same flowering bush, there were blossoms in every stage of development.

Tightly wound buds nowhere near ready to open.

Fragile, newly opening buds just beginning to reveal their c...