Get Involved - Support and Encourage

by Shoshanna Grey | More from this Blogger

23 Aug 2006 04:52 PM

This is the last in a series of blogs on how to get involved in adoption even if you are not adopting children into your own family.

One of the biggest things that you can do for an adoptive family is to provide emotional support and encouragement. Adoptive families deal with all of the issues that traditional families encounter and added to that is a set of challenges unique to adoption. While most adoptive parents say that they would do it all again in a heartbeat, they also confess that they are often overwhelmed by the challenges of adoptive parenting. A great way to be involved in adoption is to be supportive and encouraging to these families.

There are many ways that you can get involved with an adoptive family. It can be in small ways or big ways. No matter what, these gestures will mean the world to an adoptive family and your acceptance will warm their hearts.

Here are some great ways to get involved through emotional support and encouragement:

Bring a Meal We all know that getting dinner on the table each night can be a challenge. For adoptive families this can be even more of a struggle. This is especially true for families who have just brought home a new child or who have children with emotional or physical special needs. Simply offering to drop by a casserole or order a few pizzas can do so much to make an adoptive families' day easier.

Be an "Aunt" or "Uncle" Sometimes larger adoptive families can use someone to help pay special attention to a certain child or children. When there are a bunch of kids all going in different directions, it can help to have a volunteer "Aunt" or "Uncle" to go to a ballgame or take someone shopping for school clothes. The individual child feels special and it takes the pressure off of the adoptive parents who may feel like they are spread too thin.

Provide a Listening Ear Adoptive families often receive a lot of scrutiny from other people. When they mention that things are difficult or that they are struggling, they may receive responses such as "well, you decided to adopt this child" or "I told you it would be like that". As a result, adoptive parents may feel that they have to put up a front and pretend to be perfect. A very welcome change is someone who is willing to just listen and not criticize. Being a listening ear for an adoptive parent is an amazing gift.

Ask How You Can Help If none of the above seems to fit with the adoptive families you know, that's okay. Just ask them what you can do to help! Maybe there is an errand you can run or some other way that you can make their lives a little easier. Whatever it is that you end up doing, the important thing is that you are showing that you care and that you want to be involved in the amazing thing that is adoption.

Learn more about Shoshanna Grey

Shoshanna Grey has worked as an occupational social worker, teacher, child care provider, customer service reqpresentative, college recruiter and several other positions over the years.

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