SEPTEMBER TRANSITIONS

September brings cooler weather and lots of transitions for families.

Funny how life changes.  For years, September was an anxious time for me. We waited for the teacher assignment and class list to arrive. My girls checked the mailbox daily with apprehension. Sometimes ecstatic, sometimes in tears, we would start to plan for the year to come. My daughters would imagine who would become a new friend or whether a teacher would be nice and likable. I would worry how a teacher or a homework or in-class assignment or peers’ relationships might touch upon adoption.

I remember asking my daughters what they were looking forward to and what, if anything, they were worried about. When they were older, we touched upon adoption. Did they want me to mention it to their teacher? Would they like to say or not say anything? Either way, we agreed that whether it was adoption or something else, they would keep me in the loop as the year progressed.

Leading up to Labor Day, I remember shopping trips with my daughters for the latest clothing trends or new sneakers. We would buy enough folders, binders, colored pencils, calculators and more to last the year. All these years later, I even have some items that were left over in my home office.

My daughters are now 25 and 29. School is behind them, although there are murmurings of pursuing another degree. We shall cross that bridge, when we need to.

For me, the end of summer is a much calmer time now. I can sit and read a book, meet a friend for a cup of coffee, or as I did this morning spend time reassuring a client that adoption would work and she will soon be a mother.

So as I remember the fading summers of the past, and know that many of you are experiencing the first days of school, transitioning schedules for younger children and trying to keep up with the activities and social lives of older children – I wish you all a serene, unruffled academic year.

Kathy Ann Brodsky, LCSW is a New York and New Jersey licensed social worker, adoptive mom and advocate for ethical adoption practice. She has prepared thousands of adoption homestudies, counseled adoptive parents and parents-to-be, and has trained professionals to work with adoptive families. She was Director of the Ametz Adoption Program of JCCA from March 1992 to March 2015, was Head Writer for Adoption.net, a member of the Advisory Board for POV’s Adoption Series She is currently a member of the Adoption Advisory Board of Path2Parenthood and active in the Adoptive Parents Committee in New York, where she has a private practice specializing in adoption and adoptive parenting. She was named an “Angel in Adoption” by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption in 2001. Follow or reach her at ADOPTION MAVEN BLOG or EMAIL.