5 Ways To Bless a Newly Adoptive Family

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Your friends have been on an adoption journey for YEARS and you hear they just brought their new child home! How exciting! Here’s 5 simple and practical ways you can help them and bless them in their transition with their new addition!

  1. 5 Ways to bless a newly adoptive familyBring them a meal! When we brought our first son home we spent 2 weeks in Texas waiting for permission to leave the state (a process called ICPC). Most of our family and friends excitement over our new addition of a newborn through infant domestic adoption had died down some. We didn’t get any offers for help with meals until at 1 month home I was so sleep deprived I put out a SOS post on Facebook. I could barely put my own pants on much less cook and pizza was getting VERY old. Newly adoptive parents or foster families with a new placement of ANY age could use the support and relief of not having to cook dinner after a long day of bonding with their new child!
  2. Offer to babysit their other children! Most adoptive or foster families have dozens of doctor appointments to get their new kids to in the first few months, especially international adoptive families and foster families. An offer of watching the other children would never be turned down by us! Sometimes if there are other foster children in the home you may need to background checked or more by the county in order to babysit, be sure to ask your friend if that’s something you will need to do!
  3. Help them clean! Most adoptions and all foster placements require monthly (or more frequent) post placement visits from a social worker in the home. A HUGE blessing would be someone to come help vacuum and talk to while they are washing dishes or cleaning the bathroom. My best friend drove all the way from Chicago to help us prepare for our second post placement visit. Because who has time to clean when they have an adorable 2 month old to snuggle and huggle!?!
  4. Throw a Baby/Kid Shower! Most adoptive families don’t get showers. We ended up having a “meet the baby” party because no one threw us a shower. With just 20 days notice we were getting a newborn we barely had anything we needed. So we needed a shower so badly! We had been planning on a 2-3 year old girl and adopted a newborn boy. You’ll be friend of the century for planning a shower for your friend!
  5. Coffee! Ask them what their favorite coffee or tea drink is and bring them a treat! Be sure to call or text before you come cause sometimes adoption is messy and they may not be open to company that day. There are days I hadn’t showered in a while but CRAVED my Karmel Kiss from Winan’s, an offer for one from a friend would have made my year!

So, while adoption and foster care isn’t the same as welcoming a biological child, these new parents need just as much support from their friends! Be sure to ask, every adoptive family is more than thankful to let you know what they need!

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Beth Hoos
Hi! I'm Beth. I grew up in Troy, OH and now am in Beavercreek, OH. So I've spent my whole life in the Dayton area. I've been married to my high school sweetheart for 7 years. We have two boys, an almost two year old named Jack and a two year old who is currently residing in an orphanage in Bulgaria. We should have our oldest son home in Spring of 2016! We are a transracial adoptive family. My passion for adoption and orphan care has inspired me to be an Adoption Doula. I am a co-creator of the Dayton Area Adoption and Foster Care Discussion and Support group. I believe children belong in families! In my free time I love to hike, sew, and watch and play soccer! My favorite hiking place is the Russ Nature Reserve in Beavercreek!