podcast – The Elephant Mum

Raising A Family In Finland – Guest On The Expat Focus Podcast

theelephantmum — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 08:35:15 +0000

I am so excited to share this podcast episode with you all. Here’s a peek into my own story as an immigrant in Finland. What led me and my husband to move from Italy to Finland? What were the hardest challenges? How is it to have children in Finland compared to Italy? And more importantly, what would I change if I could turn back time?

I hope you have enjoyed listening. To know more about expat life in Finland, visit this page or start from my crash guide. If you yourself are an expat in Finland or somewhere, I would love to hear about your experience. Do you relate to my story? Any tips to share? Comment down below and let me know.

Featured picture by The Slow Photography.

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10 Podcasts on Adoption You Need to Subscribe To

theelephantmum — Mon, 12 Nov 2018 17:08:42 +0000

I remember how during the wait for my son to come home I would spend hours watching “Gotcha Day”-videos on Youtube, until I turned to some more informative and useful content. During the past few years several content creators produced podcasts on adoption and there’s a rich selection to choose from. Regardless how adoption touched you or what phase of the process you are at, there’s something for you in this list.

1. The Adoption Connection

This recent podcast became one of my favourites in a short time. I love how Lisa and Melissa guess all the questions adoptive parents need to discuss with peers. “Why doesn’t my child play on her own like her peers?”, I wondered that so many times. “How to survive the disruption holidays bring?”, I know for a fact this is a hairy problem for many families with children with special needs. They even have a mentoring session where they select and discuss questions sent by their listeners. Fantastic content and great guests, a must. Subscribe to their podcast and follow them also on Facebook and Instagram. You won’t regret it.

2. The Adoption

The Adoption is a must for everyone involved in adoption: parents, professionals, birth mothers, relatives, adoptees (although it may be triggering). Produced by BBC, it follows the domestic adoption journey of two children in the UK. I recommend it to everyone. I’ve complained in the past how the global view on adoption is very US-centric nowadays. I think it’s very eye-opening to learn about a very different child protection system and adoption world like the one in UK is. UK has the highest stats in Europe when it comes to children in social protection becoming “adoptable”. It’s a very different approach which has pros and cons compared to its neighbour countries. This award-winning podcast has been widely praised for how it succeeds in giving every person involved a voice, with no judgement.

3. Adoptees On

How could I not promote this amazing production? Advocating adoptees often report how the adoptees’ view on the adoption experience is overlooked. Haley, the host and producer of Adoptees On, went all in to contribute solving this issue. Her podcast is now getting ready to start season 5. Seasons have a general theme and Haley interviews adoptees from all over the world. Adoptees On is truly a bridge between adoptees, as well as connecting them to adoptive parents and professionals. Witnessing how some adoptees struggles with their experience and then found different ways to cope and even thrive has been very encouraging for me as a parent and it provided me even with practical ideas to help my child. The podcast can be listened also on Youtube. Make sure to follow Adoptees On also on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

4. The Adoption and Fostering Podcast

Another production from UK, The Adoption and Fostering Podcast is the brainchild of Al Coates and Scott Casson-Rennie, two voices you definitely want to listen to in the adoption world. Al is an adoptive parent of six turned social worker; Scott is Head of Engagement and Delivery of Adoption UK, the leading Charity advocating for adoptive families and providing them with support. They interview parents, adoptees, professionals, and bring many points of view to the table. And they’re fun to listen to, which never hurts. Follow them on Facebook and find more about them on their website.

5. Adoptive Family Success

Yolanda’s personal story of finding out she wasn’t the mother she wanted to be for her adopted children resonates with me. She is a certified coach for adoptive families and has put up a full website of resources for adoptive parents. Among her creation, there’s the informative podcast Adoptive Family Success tackling different issues adopters face. There’s also a nice twist: episodes alternates between some targeting waiting adopters and some targeting parents who have brought the child home. I wish I found this podcast while we were waiting!

6. We Can Do This: Our Adoption Journey

It has become fairly common for families to document their adoption process in blogs or vlogs, but this is the first time I heard about a podcast. We Can Do This is the story of Jess and Paul, two New Yorkers who decided to expand their family through infant adoption. It’s very interesting to hear their thoughts and feelings from the very start when they have decided to go for it until their baby daughter Markéta comes home and they get to face the real deal: parenthood. Any waiting adopter will surely relate to the struggles and the joys of this couple.

7. Adopted: now what?

Good question! Exactly what I asked myself when our son came home and I found myself facing the unexpected struggles of adoptive parenting. Becky Walker is an adoptive mother turned coach who helps families navigating the day-to-day challenges of adoptive parenting. Her podcast made me reflect on triggers and root causes of my child’s behaviours, in a period where I was focusing only on the outcomes. There are only few episodes, but it’s a good round of introduction to some of the common issues adopted children may present you with.

8. The Adoptive Mom

Alex Fittin has a mission: empowering adoptive parents to become the parents they dream of being. A mother of three, Alex runs an excellent podcast which is running on its third season and hosts guests with the most interesting and sometime heart-wrenching stories. Her episodes are truly inspiring and this is definitely a podcast you don’t wanna miss! Alex’s website is a small goldmine of resources for parents. She includes a short intro of her episodes there, as well as book recommendations and all kinds of tips. Make sure to follow her page on Facebook as well!

9. The Honestly Adoption Podcast

Mike and Kristin Berry are parents of eight children, who all joined the family through adoption, and they have fostered over twenty children over the years. Their blog Confessions of an Adoptive Parent is well-known in the adoption world. They have written few books and have now a free ebook you can download. Their podcast is a treasure box of tips and real life situations. Sometime it can get a bit abstract when people have not faced some struggles first hand, but in this case almost all content comes from their personal experience. Follow this explosive family also on Facebook and Instagram.

10. Adoption Conversations

Last but not least, there’s my small creature. Still a work in progress (I have ideas for the future!), but hopefully with something to give to the adoption community. I interviewed several people who had been touched by adoption, some fellow podcast producers. Adoption is a wide world to explore and I never get tired to learn from others. Find all episodes with a short description also in this section.

I hope you enjoyed this list and even more that you found new resources. Do you know other podcasts on adoption you want to recommend? Leave me a note in the comments. Thank you for reading!

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Adoption Conversations – episode 7. Jesse, adoptive parenting by chance

theelephantmum — Sat, 05 May 2018 07:00:15 +0000

Adoption Conversations is back, after an unexpected break. Due to personal circumstances, I have to give up my regular schedule, but I intend to continue the podcast and hear more voices talking about adoption.

Here for the first time I host the testimony of a father: Jesse, living in Finland like myself. Jesse’s story is very interesting. When his wife’s family and his blended through their marriage, he became step-dad to a lovely adopted boy. On top of that, they are a proud foster family and even a support family. Hear more in Jesse’s words in this new podcast episode.

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Adoption Conversations – episode 6. My interview to Bridget, birth mother in reunion

theelephantmum — Sun, 11 Mar 2018 12:56:52 +0000

Welcome to the latest episode of Adoption Conversations. This week’s episode is longer than usual, yet I’m sure you will not regret it. I met Bridget on social media, where she is active and passionate for promoting adoptees’ rights in United States. Bridget gave birth to her first daughter about forty years ago and she was pressured by family, social services, and life circumstances to relinquish her for adoption few days after birth. She buried the whole experience in shame for over thirty years, until she was given the chance to meet her daughter again. This story really touched me and left me with more questions than answers. When social pressure is so strong, do birth moms truly have a choice?

If this is your first episode of Adoption Conversations and you want to know more about the podcast, please hop to this guest post on Fulltime Tired where I explain what I’m trying to achieve with all this. Beside here on my blog, you can find the podcast on your favourite podcast apps: ITunes, Google Play, and Overcast.

If you enjoyed the episode, you may want to listen also to:
Ep. 3 Interracial open adoption with Nita Champion
Ep. 4 Supporting adopted children with Jodie Hampshire
Ep. 5 The voice of adoptees with Haley Radke

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Adoption Conversations – episode 5. Adoptee and podcast host Haley Radke

theelephantmum — Sun, 04 Mar 2018 08:29:00 +0000

The podcast is taking better and better shape, and I am humbled by the response I’ve got from the online community. Especially, I’m impressed and moved that many people -strangers, actually – are embracing the idea and are willing to share their most private stories with me and with my audience. I, for sure, am learning a lot through Adoption Conversations.

If you have no idea what I am talking about, please hop to this guest post on Fulltime Tired where I explain what I’m trying to achieve with all this. Beside here on my blog, you can find the podcast on your favourite podcast apps: ITunes, Google Play, and Overcast.

This week I am hosting one of the inspiring figures in the world of adoption, adult adoptee and Adoptees On podcast host Haley Ridke. Adoptees On is in my personal top 3 resources about adoption and if you don’t know it, you absolutely have to check it out. Haley is an inspiration as podcaster for me. If I will learn to have half her grace and respect as a host, I will be proud with myself.

Haley shares her own story about being adopted as an infant, her failed attempt of bringing her natural mother back into her life, and her healthy reunion with her natural father.

Resources
Adoptees On – Haley’s podcast on adoption
Haley’s adoption resource goldmine
Dear Adoption – a platform giving voice to adoptees

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February’s favorites: motherhood, humour, and a great podcast

theelephantmum — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 08:11:12 +0000

Yes, you can have a laugh at this post. My last favorites’ post is as old as last October! I tried to commit to a monthly schedule, but I always had better content to publish and prioritise, so I guess that’s good news anyway, isn’t it?
I anyway collected and noted down my favorite things in the past, to make sure I could share them with you all. Let’s dig in!

A comedy about multicultural families

I’m a TV series enthusiast and I claim finding good comedies is quite hard. This Netflix TV series was a great surprise. Fun fact, One Day at a Time is inspired (but with great variations) from another with the same name from the seventies. The episodes follow the life of Penelope, a second-generation Cuban single mother who has recently divorced. The style is comedy and I love that a multicultural family is at the center of it all. The series, following the example of the original, doesn’t hold back when it comes to face difficult issues: homosexuality, immigration laws and their consequences, alcohol addiction, divorce, and single parenting. The second season was just released and starting that is my plan for tonight.

A masterpiece podcast on adoption

No, I’m not referring to mine (but seriously, subscribe). The BBC podcast The Adoption is a little masterpiece of journalism. Jon Manel follows step by step a domestic adoption in UK and interviews all parts involved – minus the two children, too small to comment. This is a unique testimony which is very hard to reproduce, if you stop to think about it. Manel has managed to obtain cooperation from social workers, foster carers, adoptive parents, and birth family members, and has succeeded in depicting all perspectives with a respectful, not judgemental approach. It will leave you with more questions than answers. Highly recommended.

What is motherhood?

The New York Times recently published six short videos describing the real stories of few mothers. This short series called Conception opens up about how intense and diverse the experience of motherhood can be. It starts from a single mother who find herself questioning if she’s raising her son following the values of her late husband, goes on talking about how resentful a mother can feel towards her demanding children, even shares the story of a transgender man who discovered his gender identity through his parenting experience. A strong reminder of how diverse something “normal” as motherhood can be and how people never feel the same about one thing.

Toddlers are creepy

Children are cute, right? Wrong! Toddlers’ irrational behaviours can be extremely creepy and startling, like this Youtube comedy series proves. The idea to prove the point is simple: what if an adult man was saying and doing what your toddler usually says? Director Matthew Clarke plays himself and the hilarious David Milchard stars as Coco, the young, strong-willed, and smart daughter. This series is what comes the closest to describing the madness we parents of toddlers have to go through every single day of our lives. You’re advised: if you start, you will binge-watch this one.

Did you already know any of these? Do you wanna argue there’s something better around? Drop me a line below! If you liked this post, please reward me by sharing it. If you didn’t, punish your frenemies on social media by sharing it and making them go through the same ordeal.

If you enjoyed this post, you may like also:
October favorites
August favorites
July favorites

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Adoption Conversations – episode 4. Adoptive mother and book author Jodie Hampshire

theelephantmum — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 08:28:25 +0000

Our adoption experience has put us on a humbling learning path when it comes to parenting. I benefit greatly from the free resources many experts, adoptees, and adoptive parents make available for everyone to enjoy. This is why I decided to share with others my findings and the testimonies of the great people I’m meeting during my family journey.

The podcast Adoption Conversations launched at the start of the year and it was met with great enthusiasm. Beside here on my blog, you can find it on your favourite podcast app: ITunes, Google Play, and Overcast.

I’m excited about this episode, as I am joined by Jodie Hampshire, co-author of one of my favourite book on adoptive parenting, Lionheart Families – The Real Life Guide for Adoptive Families. Jodie lives in Sidney and is a mother of four, through adoption and birth.

Her book was a life-saver for me. I hadn’t go through any training and I found myself quite isolated and struggling with parenting my adopted child. It was essential for me to read her and her co-authors’ advice, and I’ve benefit from the online community they created. Find out more in Jodie’s words.

Resources:
Brené Brown on Empathy – a powerful short video to explain empathy.
12 things for educators to know about adopted kids
The book’s webpage: Lionheart Families
Lionheart Families Instagram feed
Daniel Hughes’ books
The Body Keeps the Score by B. van der Kolk

Do you want to listen to more episodes? Head over to the podcast’s main page.

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Adoption Conversations – episode 3. Adoptive mother Nita shares about her open adoptions.

theelephantmum — Sat, 10 Feb 2018 08:35:44 +0000

The podcast Adoption Conversations launched at the start of the year and it was met with great enthusiasm: it’s been one of my most visited posts ever! I am glad to announce you will now find the podcast on your favourite podcast app: ITunes, Google Play, and Overcast. Episodes will be uploaded there later than on the blog, as I have resolved to commit to a weekly release schedule. Fingers crossed about this resolution of mine.

Let’s jump into this week’s episode. I was joined by Nita, adoptive mother of two girls living in Minnesota, US. Nita shares her struggles with the adoption process, the practical issues of raising Afroamerican children, and her motivation to choose an open adoption.

https://theelephantmum.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/episode_3-22012018-19-56.m4a

Here’s the Facebook group shared by Nita. Unfortunately it appears to be unlisted now, but you can try contact these moderators.

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Adoption Conversations – episode 2

theelephantmum — Sat, 27 Jan 2018 07:44:08 +0000

The podcast Adoption Conversations launched at the start of the year and it was met with great enthusiasm: it’s been one of my most visited posts ever! As soon as I gather content to commit to a regular schedule, I will make the episodes available on the main podcast apps. In the meantime, you can listen to them here on my blog.

This time I was joined by Melissa Corkum, adult adoptee and adoptive parent who blogs at The Corkum Board. She is the mother of six, through birth and adoption, and her family story is quite amazing. You can follow her on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and make sure to explore her podcast and her Youtube channel.

https://theelephantmum.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/episode_2_melissa_corkum.m4a

Here are the resources Melissa shared:
The Connected Child, by K. B. Purvis at al..
Essentially Connected Parenting, Melissa’s Youtube channel on trust-based parenting.
Melissa’s blog.

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Launching my podcast: Adoption Conversations – episode 1

theelephantmum — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 07:28:44 +0000

Few weeks ago I decided to try and connect with other adoptive parents all over the world to have an open exchange about many issues connected with adoption. One idea I had was to compare adoption systems in different countries. Then finding a common base for all the issues, the feelings, and the challenged adoption always brings along.
Later, I reshaped my idea to have an even larger conversation about issues and testimonies connected to adoption.

I was joined in this first episode by three fellow adoptive parents: Al Coates (UK), Emma Sutton (UK), and Abbey (Canada).

Al is an adoptive parent of six children (many now adults) through the foster care system in UK. He blogs at Misadventures of an Adoptive Dad, and has a lively and informative ongoing podcast named Adoption & Fostering.

Emma is an adoptive parent of two siblings through the UK foster care system. She voices her story at Nibbles and Bubbles and has recently published a must-have book about her adoption experience.

Halley lives in Canada, her family adopted an older child through international adoption from Ukraine, and she blogs about her experience and family life at My Post-Adoption Life.

Enjoy the very first episode of Adoption Conversation:

https://theelephantmum.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/episode_1-hq.m4a

I would like to deeply thank Al, who filled my lack of expertise, recorded and partly edited this first episode.

Do you have an adoption story to tell? Are you a professional expert who may contribute to a podcast episode? Do not hesitate to reach out.

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