Spring Cleaning Mind Edition
The weather is finally getting warmer, the sun is shining bright, and the trees and grass are starting to get their color back! Spring is quickly approaching, which means it is declutter season! I don’t know about you, but I need to declutter my workspace and brain – papers and files are everywhere (in both…
Foster Parent Luncheon Recap
On Saturday, Nov. 11, the advocacy team at CMFCAA hosted a Foster Parent Luncheon. At this luncheon, we were able to discuss issues with permanency and get a better understanding of the Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard. So many of our wonderful caregivers shared their concerns with children in care for more than the 22-month…
Champions of Change
Let’s talk about something challenging: change. Have you ever realized that the word “change” is within the word “challenge?” It’s pretty fitting, honestly. Change happens all around us all the time, so why is it sometimes so difficult to experience it? Change is hard because it results in our normal being disrupted. What we were…
7 Ways CMFCAA’s Advocacy Team can help you
As CMFCAA’s newest program, we understand that many still don’t quite know what we do. While our team could talk for hours about the way we’ve fought for children in our community, we wanted to offer a short list that we feel sums us up pretty well. We will listen. We know it is hard, we know…
The uncomfortable “unknowns” of caregiving
Being a foster, adoptive, kinship, or guardianship caregiver means you are all too familiar with the uncomfortable feeling of the “unknowns” in parenting. Your life can change in an evening when you take on new kiddos. The plan for the case can change in an instant. And, waiting for a final adoption hearing can take…
Radical Acceptance: C’est La Vie
C’est la vie is a French saying that means “That’s life.” It is a phrase of acceptance or tolerance for things being the way they are. In other words, radical acceptance. Accepting this weather Lately, this winter weather has been less than favorable. I mean, really – it has been rainy, cold, gloomy and grey,…
Therapy is for everyone
I realized that therapy truly is for everyone and that I didn’t have to have the world’s biggest problems to be worthy of going. Therapy was an incredibly empowering, validating, and educational experience.
You Deserve Self-Care
When you get on a plane, they give you a rundown on safety measures. The main rule in an emergency is that you have to put on your own oxygen mask before you can help someone else. This is because if you don’t put on your own mask first, you will pass out trying to…
Tips for Helping Your Child Through A Panic Attack
Your child or teen comes to you breathing heavily, crying, struggling to breathe, and likely extremely upset or overwhelmed about something. They can’t get it under control and they need help. Their panic attack or anxiety attack is taking over and leading to exhaustion and Maybe you’ve been there too before, or maybe you haven’t.…
Self Care and Support Groups
Your time is incredibly limited already. You put all of the free time you do have into your kids. And finding time for yourself, to focus on yourself, is just hard. I get it, I do. But I want to let you know that you deserve space for you. You are allowed to take time…
How to Support Your Child’s Mental Health
Being a foster/adoptive/kinship parent means that your child likely experienced loss, heartbreak, and pain before coming to you. Dealing with such intense emotions is hard as an adult, and even harder when you are a child and don’t quite understand what is going on or why.