Kids Archives - Page 3 of 3

A Letter from a Foster Mom

By Doctor in Denim | May 9, 2018

I am very excited and proud to present the following guest post. Zella Kintsugi is the biological mother of three, the adoptive mother of two, and the foster mother of two. She and her husband have been involved with foster care and adoption since 2014.

A Letter from a Foster Mom

I do not have it all figured out. I lose my temper. I use words I should not at times that are likely not appropriate. I am not kind, loving, and generous in every situation in which I find myself. …

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What Does it Cost to Take a Family to Maui?

By Doctor in Denim | March 25, 2018

This trip was one of our bigger travel hacking wins of 2018. As such, we didn’t pay for much of it out of pocket. I have included our costs below, as well as what similar purchases would have cost without travel hacking. We stayed in Wailea on the west coast of Maui for one week during “high season” in March. …

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"I love you" in different languages on tile

Why I Share My Kids’ Stories

By Doctor in Denim | March 14, 2018

I recently got some unsolicited and fairly angry advice from another adoptive mom to the effect of the following (the actual lecture I got was much longer than this – I have distilled it down to the main points for your convenience): …

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What Does it Cost to Take a Family to Europe?

By Doctor in Denim | March 6, 2018

The Iberian Blitz

When my brother moved to Spain to teach English, my family – having never been to Spain – naturally decided we had to go visit. Soon some other family members decided to join, and then some good friends did too. Our plans exploded into a giant complex mess of twelve people’s ideas and expectations, which after several hundred email exchanges somehow resulted in airplane tickets and lodging reservations and then, against all odds, culminated in a trip that was an absolute blast. …

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Why We Became Foster Parents

By Doctor in Denim | March 4, 2018

Like many things in life, there are a whole bunch of reasons you might choose to do this. There are also a whole bunch of reasons not to. These are just the factors that led us in to this adventure a little over three years ago. …

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Our Anti-Party Approach to Kids’ Birthdays

By Doctor in Denim | February 23, 2018

In a world where online fundraising is an accepted way to raise money for a small child’s dream birthday event, I’m sure plenty of people think that we are pretty stingy parents. After all, you can find examples of over-the-top children’s parties everywhere you look. …

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How We Got Ready for a Newborn for Under $350

By Doctor in Denim | February 21, 2018

What Does Getting Ready for a Baby Really Cost?

According to one popular baby website, you can currently expect to spend about $2,000 on everything you “need” for your nursery furnishings. The most reasonable article I could find featuring photographic proof that their nursery wasn’t totally depressing came in around $400 for nursery furnishings (this was on a budget/frugality site). These nursery set-ups did not include what was spent on clothing, blankets, baby-feeding supplies, diapers, wipes, baby monitors, etc. …

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