[my3guats]

We brought Isaac home at 4 1/2 years so a little younger than 5 but in the ballpark. We have three older bio kids and two other children adopted from Guatemala as infants. Bringing him home was so much harder than any of them. Actually the language issue for him was the easiest. Within months he was speaking some English and understanding much, especially daily conversation things. Of course school language is harder but as of this year his tests showed that he was proficient in all areas besides writing. He has been home for a little over 4 years and just finished 2nd grade. He has come so far. His reading and other academic skills are either at grade level or many of them above.

Emotionally it was tougher. Lots and lots of tantruming. The first weeks were terrible. In his case our other two young children were very close in age which made things worse. He still is very difficult at times and loves to get everyone in an uproar. We have made lots of progress though and it is very worth it. I wouldn't discourage anyone from adopting an older child but I would encourage you to do lots of reading and have a support network in place. You have other children. One thing that was really really hard was having to take him to the other kids activities as you just never knew when he was going to throw a tantrum. It was also hard on the other kids but again not so hard that I wouldn't do it again.