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[personal profile] kyburg
We joined the group Families with Children from China (FCC) on the advisement of our agency.

Whoa.

First thing they hit me with by email blast was this seminar being given by a specialist in international adoption health issues - Dr. Gary Feldman, who was bright, engaging and presented well. It was this morning.

Yes, of course we went. Beyond actually having someone who was willing to look at the referral package and give an educated opinion about it, on the spot, the seminar was rated at two CEUs for social workers...high enough level that we might get something more than we had before. Plenty of bang for $20. I thought it would be good to get those hours in - what I discovered was more than I anticipated?

Well, yeah. I found a fabulous resource for interventional work with adopted children - the center the seminar was given at was the Vista Del Mar Center, a center dedicated to nothing but assisting families who adopt. Big gun stuff. If I need it.

One hundred years old. A very Jewish organization (mezzuzahs at all the doors, really pretty ones too), the walls are covered with citations for community service - new ones, old ones, some older than me.

HUGE campus. Never knew it was there. We're talking everything you could imagine - the residential program has all the bells and whistles - it looks like a boarding school, if you can get your head around that. A California beach-bum boarding school.

He covered the subject well - he was talking about what you can expect to get out of the information you get, and how attachment issues are created and how to approach resolving them.

And wow, referrals to anything you might need. Yes, he knows folks at Cedars...and down here in Torrance too.

I was told I would have the resources I needed - the cosmos have not been stingy.

Corker was lunch. On our way there, we spotted an Irish pub and Jim called lunch. He's been bemoaning the lack of the pub experience he had in the service in England...I'd been countering with the fact that he hadn't tried a single pub in Los Angeles since he got here.

Delightful.

So, he got his wish.

Going home, found the house to be 90 degrees inside, 96 degrees outside - napped, and about dinnertime decided that seeing a movie made more sense...so we took the free passes gathering dust on the refrigerator and saw Kung Fu Panda.

"There is no extra charge for awesomeness." DUDE. That's the opener - please go see this. It's another unlikely hero story - but it is gorgeous, hysterically funny and so well done, you don't even want the credits to end.

Once you do, come back and let's talk.

Tomorrow, first-aid training EARLY to LATE - yay one day certification classes, been there and done it before. Hope I don't scare them too much.

Date: 2008-06-22 06:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jrittenhouse.livejournal.com
Wow. Most Excellent All Around. Go you guys!

Date: 2008-06-22 06:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lackofgravitas.livejournal.com
Heh, I like the 'cons' in the reviews for that put - some snotty barmaids, bar can be sticky, 'I was too drunk to see any'. Sounds pretty authentic to me. :)

Suitability of Kung Fu Panda for a small person? Nothing in the parents' guide on IMDB is ringing any alarm bells, and if anything the people who contribute to those things tend to be over-sensitive.

Date: 2008-06-22 07:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] drave117.livejournal.com
Very positive messages about finding strength in who you already are, and using those strengths to achieve your dreams. Some violence. More intense than, say, Shrek, but less intense than Incredibles. Very colorful. No toilet humor, plenty of chubby-panda-is-clumsy humor. Will make children want toys. May make adults want toys. No annoying songs that kids will be singing for weeks. Does that about cover the bases?

Date: 2008-06-22 07:43 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lackofgravitas.livejournal.com
Very comprehensive, thank you. The message sounds good, I'll forgive a lot for a sound message. Including 'wanting toys'. :)

Date: 2008-06-22 08:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] drave117.livejournal.com
A surprisingly tender performance from Jack Black, too. The best work he has ever done, in my opinion.

Date: 2008-06-22 02:14 pm (UTC)
ext_20420: (Default)
From: [identity profile] kyburg.livejournal.com
We had *tons* of littles with us at the 7:00 PM show - they were not disappointed, or bored. Ever.

The only proviso for parents is to make sure you're not trying to do this past bedtime...earlier in the day, the better. It's a total wind-up for them.

Date: 2008-06-23 03:47 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] drlaurac.livejournal.com
Wow. That center sounds awesome. You have inspired me to find something similar in this area before we get started. I do plan on reading all I can and getting periodic preventional counseling for the entire family.

Date: 2008-06-23 06:07 pm (UTC)
ext_20420: (Default)
From: [identity profile] kyburg.livejournal.com
There's a fantastic resource right in Ft. Worth - the Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX (http://www.child.tcu.edu/), which provided the book "The Connected Child" - I've already read and put it on the 50 book challenge list.

Probably one of the leading centers on the subject -

Date: 2008-06-23 06:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] drlaurac.livejournal.com
Thank you so much! I looked around their website, and they also have sensory integration stuff, and I read that for Alex . I have bookmarked them, they have great resources!

My Word

Date: 2008-06-23 03:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] djdig.livejournal.com
The "My Word" in Boston Globe's Miss Conduct this weekend made me think of you and Jim.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2008/06/22/invasion_of_screamyboy/?page=2

Good luck dealing with well meaning annoying people!

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