Hattie's Advocate - Through a series of coincidences, a newlywed couple with the desire to "give back" to their community is thrown headlong into the challenging and confusing world of foster care.  And what a world it is!  As each of four children arrives at their home toting a trash bag of individuality, the family learns to adjust - and not just to each other.  They must cope with the idiosyncrasies of government-regulated childcare (including biological reunification) as well as the psychological disorders and hardships that stem from child abuse, neglect and abandonment.  Matt, the unlikely foster dad and his wife, Krista, a psychologist, team up to overcome the adversities of a system that wants to create permanency for the modern-day foster children at any cost... But will the ends justify the means?  Humor melds with sorrow as the events of their lives lead them to the doorstep of adoption - and to a new type of family unit that would make any child proud. 

 

Also, just released: Okay, Which One of You Took My Sanity?  Co-authored with national parenting speaker, Claudia M. Fletcher.

 

Okay, Which One of You Took My Sanity?  A Fun Guide to Foster, Adoptive, and Other Kinds of Parenting is a humorous he-said/she-said breakdown of parenting strategies.  Hilarious true-to-life stories reveal common threads between two families facing unique challenges and even more unique children.  Together the stories encourage other parents to embrace change rather than fix family dynamics.  Matt and Claudia, both adoptive parents, each exhibit distinctive parenting styles within their own adoptive families.  Still, both apply the same principles to pilot the demands of special needs parenting.  Fun and laughter might be the primary intention of this Dr. Phil meets Erma Bombeck concoction, but it ruptures with insightful parenting techniques.  In between laughs, you might discover that there is something very profound about being a parent... but probably not.