Adoption Support Groups

For those with adoptive children, are you apart of an adoption support group?  We are.  I am so thankful to have a group of families in my community with adoptive children, specifically Ethiopian adoptive children. 

Once a month Nicole organizes a fun event for all the families.  One month it might be a potluck and play time at a local church or a play date at the children's museum or maybe a swimming event at a nearby park.  It is an informal time for families to come together.  The children love to play with one another and many of them have become fairly good friends.  Us adults try to get some adult conversation in whenever we are not speaking or chasing after our kiddos :) 

I find it is a nice resource to have locally.  As much as I love to read other adoption blogs and connect with families via social media outlets, I really enjoy my relationships with the local families who share adoption in common. 
Sometimes it is hard as a mother of two Ethiopian beauties, to talk to my family and friends about adoption topics.  I know they would be there for me and try to understand but it isn't the same.  I feel like I can talk freely to my "adoption" friends without being  judged or misunderstood. 

My community of families with adoption children has grown considerably over the past few years.  I remember meeting two other families before Maya came home and they were the only two families known in town (Nicole being one of them).  Now we have many families a part of our group and more are joining every day (or so it seems).

A big thanks to Nicole for all her hard work organizing the monthly events.  For the few times I have considered skipping  in order to continue tackling my to-do list or some other random thing, I am happy that I prioritized the event over everything else.  Maya absolutely loves them and I think that is the most important thing of all.  She gets to see her friends and continue to strengthen her relationships with the kids that "look like" her.  And I get to visit with the other parents and we all know how much I like to visit!

I encourage anyone reading my blog with adoptive children to join an adoption support/play group.  It will be well worth it and you will be glad you did.