November is National Adoption Month

November is probably my favorite month. It is the one time of the year I actually feel like I slow down and take a look at my life. Where am I going, what have I done, is it enough? Don't get me wrong, I don't always answer those questions but I at least have time to evaluate where my life is at. Another favorite part of November is the coziness of Thanksgiving even though we rarely do a traditional Thanksgiving meal. We just are not your turkey and stuffing kind of people. We are more like crab legs or prime rib kind of a family. Just knowing that my husband is home for four days makes me as giddy as can be. Now that we have adopted children November now has another special meaning, November is National Adoption Month.

National Adoption Month has one main focus which are the children in Foster Care. It is all about getting the word out about how many children are in need of homes. Permanent homes, getting them out of Foster Homes or Group Homes. Here is a little History for you. National Adoption week began in 1976 with President Gerald Ford. Although some say it did not really begin until 1984 with President Ronald Reagan. This I think was due to the lack of response from so many of the states. Even with not all states participating in this event, in 1994 President Clinton renamed it National Adoption Month due to more states beginning to participate.

We now also have National Adoption Day which is always one day in the month of November (this year it is the 23). This day allows courthouses throughout the U.S.to participate, which allows hundreds of adoptions to be filed at the same time. Most courthouses will have celebrations with cake and balloons. A really special day.

For me it is a great time to celebrate my family. It is also the perfect time for me to remind everyone that there are hundreds of thousands of children here in the United States that need forever homes.

I love this quote, every child deserves a champion...



National Adoption Month starts this Friday. I hope everyone takes a moment to ponder adoption, foster care, or even helping an adoptive or foster parent. You can make a difference. For more information you can go to:

http://adoptuskids.org/

http://www.davethomasfoundation.org/

http://www.nationaladoptionday.org/