I met my son today

[MintyLizzy9]

3 months ago I was convinced it would be a long time before I got this lucky and was dreading another Christmas without my child being home.

Today has made all the totally shit days, weeks and months all worth while.

Added bonus is he actually seemed to like me and made numerous demands for toe eating and tower building!

Can't wait for tomorrow but until then it's o'clock

I saw my own post on your thread from 4 years ago! Weird!

Haha I’m dreading the tween years!

Another first today, he attended and joined in for the full carol concert at school. His 1:1 didn’t have to remove him once hurrah! I missed it due to work but he was chuffed to have his grandma and grandad in the audience!

Congratulations! Sounds like it’s going well!

What an absolutely wonderful post. Just read it all from the beginning, with tears in my eyes - so glad little ‘Keith’ is doing so well as are you.

Some good news today about the ASF being agreed for another year, I can honestly say that the funded help we had from after adoption was the making of us, theraplay in particular was a game changer. It’s funding this years sensory integration and no doubt we will be tapping into it again next year.

Meanwhile I’ve been teaching not Keith to pronounce selection box....his version of erection box did make me snarff a few times but I must be grown up now

Ahhh lovely post for 2019 @MintyLizzy9 I love reading your updates each year :) we finally have our Keithette here for our first Christmas together. Well done to you and have a wonderful Christmas

Ha! Erection box! A classic Christmas tradition!!

@dashofmagic congratulations! I remember our first Christmas like it was yesterday, you can’t beat it ☺️ I do remember the Christmas Eve panic of oh shit does Santa wrap his gifts and texting everyone then stealth wrapping at 11 pm. In my defence he’d only been home a couple of weeks and I was wrecked!

I suspect it will now forever be known as the erection box, it will join other classics such as the sore house (GP Surgery) and the yella train (local tram...happens to be yellow). Everyone in our circle now references getting the yella train into town

On the upside he no longer shouts widgie or no widgie at passing men and women 👍🏻

What a lovely thread.

You seem to have brought so much joy to each other's lives.

Amazing updates, mint

🍷🏡😍

Reading this post for the first time. I think it is the loveliest post I've ever read.

frantic waving 👋🏻 I’m back! FIVE YEARS!!

The dressing gown clad toddler waving from the door is now a very solid very tall very handsome almost 7 year old!

Once again another year has flown by...not exactly the year any of us envisioned. Not Keith is doing well and coping with all the madness in the world right now (thank goodness) and has rather taken to the idea of wearing a mask in the shops (and pretending to be a ninja!)

Well covid kind of threw a spanner in the works didn’t it! Lockdown has actually been his saviour and he flourished particularly during lockdown 1.0. He loved home school (glad one of us did 🤯) and made more progress than he did in the entire previous year!! It seemed to set him up for his return to school and he’s much calmer and actually engaging in class work, very very proud of him ☺️ Still some way to go but it’s such a massive change in the right direction it gives me so much hope.

He hasn’t lost his cheekiness and his sense of humour is really shining through, he does a great impression of his grumpy grandad who is torn between wanting to tell him off, trying not to laugh at the impressions or not knowing where to look when he is loudly informed of the REAL names of certain body parts except he pronounces one as a vajackson 😂 still waiting to hear if he’s mastered how to say selection box this year!

He’s learnt to ride his bike which let me tell you has taken roughly 4 years but he finally mastered it this autumn and is so chuffed and proud of himself.

He has started loosing his teeth and is very suspicious about the tooth fairy actually being me, not suspicious enough to decline the various two pound coins she has left him though 😂 he’s saving up for a car apparently, a red one, so he can drive me and his grandma to Aldi and the ice cream farm, yes my life is THAT glamorous!

Finally his obsession with Ben Shepherd and Tipping Points seems to have passed only to be replaced with Ben Shepherd and Ninja Warriors 🤦🏻‍♀️ Still, at least it’s a bit more exciting to watch than tipping point 😁

I hope everyone is doing well and that covid hasn’t caused too many delays for those going through the process. Xx

I've never seen this thread before as I'm new to the adoption world but it is so joyful and encouraging to read. (Well, if I'm honest, I've only read the first and last pages!) We have panel very soon and started the process in February. Even though I naïvely went in expecting it to take exactly six months, I think realistically that Covid probably hasn't delayed us. I hope you have a lovely Christmas with your almost 7 year old. I have one of those too and I can relate to the body part fascination and over-ambitious tooth money spending plans!

Hey Minty, great to hear all is well.

"He’s learnt to ride his bike which let me tell you has taken roughly 4 years but he finally mastered it this autumn and is so chuffed and proud of himself."

Snap, ds has finally mastered it, took years! Or rather years of not doing it!

Really happy for you. Welcome to your amazing new life. Love to hear of happy news on these forums :-)

Ah thanks for your update. I have checked in each year but under other user names :)

So good to hear he is thieving and blooming.

Awful typo that should read THRIVING

Sorry

😂😂😂 thieving may also be appropriate some days!!

Thanks everyone, it’s nice to look back on my post each year and remind myself of all the good things, it’s so easy to forget how far our little ones come. Lovely to see some familiar faces as well 😘

This thread made me tear up, I’m hoping this is my last Christmas childless. I think we’ve found our children and now just waiting.... and waiting... x

Lovely to hear your update Minty, we used to do an update thread (lead by Lilka) every Xmas/New YEar which I always enjoyed. Glad lockdown has been bearable for you both.

@MintyLizzy9 👋 hello again!! This thread is such a Christmas joy!! Lovely to hear the year has gone so well and little Kieth is not so little. I know quite a few adopted kids or kids with additional needs who flourished in the lockdowns with the simpler routines and enforced limits to what they could do...interesting that!

@Bananahana sending you a big hug. I found the adoption process completely traumatic tbh, if you’ve been trying for a family for a long time you go into it at a low level anyway and then you just get stuck being so so close to it for months and years through all the delays. I still feel such empathy for people going through it. But my LO has been home just over a year now and it’s been brilliant so you’ll get there and it’ll be ok

@Bananahana keeping everything crossed for you x x x x x

Hope the next couple of weeks go smoothly for everyone, Not Keith is beside himself with excitement but so far is handling it all ok, I’m hoping school keep everything a little calmer next year as well as I suspect a lot of the kiddos have coped better with the lack of build up and broken routines this year.

Merry Christmas everyone x

Ah I’ve loved reading all this from the start. Thanks for updating every year.

10 years….a whole blinking decade!!

its been a while since I’ve posted and thought the big one zero would be a fab time to do it!

Little Keith is now more of a trucker Kev and is almost as tall as me! The tween is tweening but between the Roblox obsession and the grunting he’s still little Keith sneaking in hugs and holding hands when he thinks no one is watching ☺️

He has headed off to high school this year and has morphed into this young man overnight. What a transition high school has been…for both of us! He is starting to make some friends which is great and such a relief, high school is tough enough without having a couple of mates by your side.

lots of reflection this week on how far we’ve come and just how fast the years are going by. Here’s to the next ten 🥂