[ATHiker]

I wanted to interject here with my experience thus far. Of course, I don't have ANY children home yet.... but I read EVERY SINGLE post about attachment and bonding and have made it my mission to become as educated about it as I can be.

I expect our experience will be much like Javalita's. The initial HUGE adjustment to having children in our home, then being able to focus in depth on good attachment parenting. We plan to do our best, but I'm sure we'll make plenty of mistakes along the way.

Our initial agency did not give us any info beyond the "they just need love and something to eat" garbage. Our new agency did address some issues briefly, but nothing in detail. The caseworker that did our homestudy was so woefully ignorant of attachment issues...it was painful.

DH and I talk frequently about "The Attitude" and how to maintain it. We discuss different consequences and how we might handle certain situations. We've talked about maintaining consistency and routine...all based on advice given here by dedicated posters.

Karen (Angelkisses)... you have no idea how much you've affected my outlook on parenting these kids. We use your name frequently in our home... as in "Karen said..." I wanted you to know that you ARE making a difference. There are lots of us out there listening.

I hope the confusion and upset of the last week will start to settle down and we can get back to the business of giving/receiving information and support.

Big Hugs to all!!!!