Second_Location

"stepped off-world", what a lovely little phrase.

What advice do you have for dealing with the complicated grief that comes from estrangement? No one brings over a casserole when you’ve voluntarily removed a toxic person from your life. People find it awkward to discuss and don’t check up with you over time, I’ve noticed. The grief is of course nothing like loss through death, but it’s painful all the same. I find myself wishing for and missing a loving parent who never really existed. It’s hard.

So my daughter's school here in the southeastern USA has a tradition of the second graders studying Native Americans' history and culture. At the end of the year they have a daylong event at a farm where they dress up in vaguely Native attire and engage in activities that are supposed to represent traditional practices. A lot of summer camps in this area do similar kinds of things. While I think it's really important for American kids of all races to learn about our shared history, and I think experiential education is helpful, I don't feel great about these kinds of activities. I mean, you wouldn't see a bunch of white kids dressing up for "African American Day"... What are your thoughts?

Attachment disorders can make mutually pleasurable emotional relationships very difficult to achieve. Do you have a plan to keep emotional/psychological support in place over time for the both of you? Congrats on the adoption; he is a very lucky boy to have you.

Aw shit, Fred Willard would have been incredible in that role.