Mom's Night Out and Fun Books

Please join us for Mom's Night Out and some fun books!
You are invited to an Usborne Book Party on Monday, October 12th at 7:00 p.m. Feel free to bring a friend or Dad if he really wants to go too!

If you are not familiar with the books, feel free to come and check them out and just visit! I just got the First hundred words in Chinese for our daughter and it is lots of fun! They have great books for kids of all ages.

You can find us just south of Apple Valley off Cedar Ave. If you need directions, feel free to leave a comment and we'll get back to you.

Please RSVP so we are sure to have plenty of snacks and drinks! Just let me know if you have any questions.

Long Wait For Home Movie Screening

Movie Screening: Long Wait for Home
Join CHSFS and Families with Children from China as we view Changfu Chang’s newest documentary about international adoption. This touching portrayal of birthparents in China explores the complexities of Chinese politics, economics, family life and culture. Dr. Chang himself will be there to share some difficult editorial decisions and show a few extra clips that were taken out of the film. This event is for adults only. Limited childcare spots available for children ages two and older.
September 26, 3–5PM; $7/person

Click here to register: http://www.childrenshomeadopt.org/Long_Wait_for_Home.html

Sunday May 24th - Grandview Park, Hudson, WI

Last minute announcement!
Join your fellow MN Red Threaders at Grandview Community Park (map) in Hudson, WI this Sunday, May 24th at 4:30pm for a potluck-style dinner. The weather should be good, so bring a dish/beverage to share and hang out with us. Here's a chance to meet someone new from the group, put a face to the name, show off your baby pics! Tell stories, let the kids play outside. It'll be very low-key and you can stay as long as you like. If you can make it show up. If not, we hope to see at something in the future! Here are some details about the park:

GRANDVIEW COMMUNITY PARK (located on Carmichael Rd. north of Vine Street and across from the St. Croix County Government Center): Grandview Park serves the City in two functions. It is an athletic complex with four regulation softball fields, two of which are lighted. The fields are used for adult and youth softball. Grandview Park also serves as a neighborhood park and offers a playground area with play structure; a picnic shelter; and benches and picnic tables. Rest rooms and concessions are available during evening adult softball play or during rentals. For reservations call: (715)386-4774.

Let me know if you have any questions.


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Why Americans Are Adopting Fewer Kids from China

This recent article in TIME attempts to explain. One reason, of course, are the new laws restricting international adoptions:

But the new laws are only part of the reason that fewer Chinese children are being adopted by families in the U.S. While the Chinese government does not release domestic adoption figures, U.S.-based adoption agencies say more Chinese children are being adopted in China. "You have this cultural shift along with the economic shift, where more and more people cannot only afford to adopt a child, but culturally it's more accepted," says Cory Barron, foundation director at Children's Hope International. Historically, adoption was neither socially acceptable nor a viable economic option for many families in China. But orphanages were getting crowded, prompting the government to open up to international adoptions in 1992. Josh Zhong, founder and director of Chinese Children Adoption International in Colorado, remembers what it was like in China just 10 years ago. "You would see hundreds of thousands of children," he says. "Orphanages begging you to come in, saying, 'Please help us. These children need to go home.' " A slow shift in gender perception may also be playing a role. While girls still make up 95% of children at orphanages, Zhong says that, too, has shifted. "People's attitude toward having girls is changing dramatically," Zhong says. "I have friends [in China] who have girls, and they are just so excited."

Read the full article here.