Friday, September 07, 2007

Jane Brown playshop

Our local FCC chapter is sponsoring a Jane Brown playshop this weekend. For those of you who don't know, Jane Brown is a nationally-known adoption social worker who works with young adoptees and their families on better understanding what it feels like to be adopted. She is not without controversy. Some adoptive parents don't subscribe to her theory that ALL adoptive children are going to have issues at some point in their lives and you, as a parent, need to learn to deal with it.

As a parent of an adoptive child who, thus far, hasn't shown a great deal of anxiety about being adopted, or even a whole lot of interest in the subject, I wonder if I'm doing the right thing taking her to this playshop. I've talked to some of our friends who are attending and I think we're all concerned that our children are going to be upset by what's discussed and it might open up a Pandora's box of emotion for our girls. Before I signed us up, I read several accounts of the playshops written by parents and every single one of them had the same concerns. But they all said that they were so happy they attended.

I guess my feeling is, it's unlikely that just attending this event will lead to Emma experiencing full-blown grief for her birth mother or something similar. Unless that was already there hidden inside, in which case, we need to deal with it.

Anyway, keep you fingers crossed that this ends up being a valuable experience for us...I'll let you know what happens.

P.S. You can read more about the Jane Brown playshops here, if you're interested.

3 comments:

RamblingMother said...

If she were coming to my area I would go too. Glenys hasn't really reacted either but she is only 3. I do however bring it up all the time so that she knows she can talk about it when she is ready. I am eager to hear about your experience if you decide to share.

Beverly

Calico Sky said...

It's such a tough line, I hope that you and Emma feel it was the right choice for you! I have no doubt dear Donna, you'll be able to support Emma if/when needs arise!
Let us know how it goes!

Abby's Mom said...

Can't wait to hear how it goes. You are lucky to have the opportunity :)