[djb_97]

Hi everyone -

I'm not sure where to post this...

We just completed our application materials for an Infant Open Adoption program with LSS in MN. We will be attending an adoption training workshop later this month and then will be assigned a SW and start the HS interviews and visits.

Anyways, I'm trying to get some pictures together ( to get a jump on things ) for our future profile, since we aren't decorating the baby's room until we have a match, I was wondering if it's ok to include a photo of my childhood rocking chair that I've held onto for my future child? Any advice for the caption to the photo?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

Take care,
Deb

[joymom]

I would think it would be fine... its something that has sentimental value to you and you have held onto it for your kids. I wonder if you could be in the picture also ? Pictures of "stuff" always strike me as a catalog I'm not having any creative caption ideas...its a sweet story that you've kept it, maybe just a quick note about that and why it was important to you and that you're excited to share it with your son/daughter.

[djb_97]

Hi joymom -

That's a great idea to have me in the photo too, I did take the picture with a stuffed Pooh sitting in it - we'll be decorating the baby's room with Pooh. I'll have DH take one of me with the rocker.

Thanks again,
Deb

[twyla]

Hi, Deb!

I was just browsing my forum, (as a new adoptive mother, I don't have the time to spend on here that I used to), and saw your posting.

I think that a picture of you in the rocker holding Pooh would be very sweet and would say a lot to the right expectant mom looking for an adoptive couple. If I misunderstood and this is a child-sized rocker instead of a full-sized one, some suggestions are to sit in the floor beside it, maybe reading a bedtime story to Pooh or with a tea party spread out on a picnic cloth in front of the two of you. In otherwords, do something in the picture to show both your personality and your eagerness to parent a little one. Give the woman considering adoption for her baby a way to visualize what you would be like as a mother. Keep it real though! Don't make a picture just to impress, it should be something you have imagined doing with your child.

I also wouldn't use just a caption below the picture in your profile. If it were me, I'd put a short paragraph below the picture telling how the rocker came to be in the family and how you can't wait to use it when this little one joins your family. And if you truly believe that love is the main thing that creates a family and not genetics, add something in your own words to that effect. The woman who will trust you with raising her child needs to be reassured that you will love this baby every bit as much as though you had been the one to give birth.

Good luck to you and may your adoption journey be as smooth as possible!

[djb_97]

Hi Twyla -

Thanks for all the great ideas!

It is a child sized rocker, it actually plays music when rocked in and is in mint condition. I guess I hung on to it for a couple reasons... it belonged to me and I wanted to pass it on to my child and my dad bought it for me - my parents divorced when I was two and I never knew him ( long story ). So may be in a way I kept a piece of him too.

Don't worry about not having enough time to spend on the forums, we all understand and soon we'll all be new moms not having enough time to spend here too.

Thanks again, take care.

Hugs,
Deb