Happy National Adoption Month... A Day Late!
It’s been a while, I know. I’ve missed you! As we barrel headlong into the holidays, I wanted to reach out and tell you how thankful I...
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RAISE A CHILD: Jillian Lauren & Scott Shriner's Story
ALLIANCE OF MOMS: I'm a Mom
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Jillian Lauren
May 30, 20173 min read
National Foster Care Month
You deserve to be happy… That was the well-worn refrain of my girlfriends, when we were in our early twenties. Usually in response to ...
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Jillian Lauren
Feb 5, 20173 min read
A Tale of Two Inaugurations
Tariku and I attended the Women’s March Los Angeles, on January 21, 2017.We could barely move, gridlocked in a sea of bodies. We were all...
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Jillian Lauren
Dec 18, 20163 min read
A Letter to Jovi Starshine on his Gotcha Day
To my Starshine on his Gotcha Day. A year ago, you showed up here in your red-and-black sweatsuit, with pleather stars in a semicircle...
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Jillian Lauren
Sep 6, 20161 min read
Meet Our Son
Yesterday, the four of us drove out to Lancaster and stood holding hands under the fluorescent lights of the juvenile court. The kindly...
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Jillian Lauren
Aug 9, 20164 min read
An Open Letter To Parents of Well Behaved Children
Dear Parents of Well Behaved Children, I just spent the summer traveling around the country with two spirited children and I have met...
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Jillian Lauren
Jul 13, 20163 min read
Living Out Loud
Two days ago we were at the water table in the Chicago Children’s Museum. I left the room for exactly five seconds to tell Scott...
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Jillian Lauren
Jun 26, 20164 min read
Everything I Need To Know I Learned from Rock & Roll
In some ways, tour is anarchy—the boys are up late dancing to crazy loud rock music, giving each other dinosaur tattoos with face paint,...
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Jillian Lauren
Apr 12, 20164 min read
Learn By Teaching
This past weekend, I had the privilege of delivering the keynote at the Parenting in Space conference, a fantastic therapeutic parenting...
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Jillian Lauren
Feb 28, 20168 min read
What NOT to Say to Prospective Adoptive Parents. And What to Say Back.
Would you walk up to a pregnant woman and tell her about your friend’s cousin's daughter whose infant died of a rare disease, offer her...
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Jillian Lauren
Jan 18, 20164 min read
A Letter to my Son on his Seventh Gotcha Day
To Tariku on his Gotcha Day—I always love your Gotcha Day (remember when you used to call it your “Cha Cha Day”?), because it’s a chance...
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Jillian Lauren
Oct 4, 20154 min read
When Big Baby J. Came To Stay
As many of you know, Scott and I are in the process of adopting through LA County DCFS (Department of Child and Family Services). As of a...
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Jillian Lauren
Mar 19, 20153 min read
Why I Sing Loudly at Whole Foods
“She used to sing musical theater loud in the grocery store,” said Scott, when we and the other people in our foster parent training were...
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Jillian Lauren
Sep 11, 20143 min read
The Road
“From here on out, the road is KAPUT,” said Aschalew, the local Help One Now director and our emissary here. Translation: the road is...
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Jillian Lauren
Jan 22, 20142 min read
T's Fifth Cha Cha Day!
Last year Tariku renamed his "Gotcha" Day (the anniversary of the day he was finally in our arms), "Cha Cha Day." Which is obviously the...
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Jillian Lauren
Nov 19, 20131 min read
Letter to My Son
The original letter is hidden somewhere safe in Paris....November 19, 2013 Dear Tariku, As I write this, you are at home with your dad...
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Jillian Lauren
Aug 2, 20132 min read
Remembering Jen
My dear friend Jen Wilson passed away last night after a long and heroic battle with cancer. Her friends and family are all grieving...
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Jillian Lauren
Jan 16, 20132 min read
To My Son on his Cha Cha Day
Tariku in our arms. We call it his "Gotcha" day and celebrate it as a kind of second birthday. T has taken to calling it his “Cha Cha”...
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Jillian Lauren
Sep 16, 20122 min read
Memories of...
T is still unexpectedly napping in the car and I'm sitting a few feet away in the dappled shade under our camphor tree, having one of...
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Jillian Lauren
Aug 9, 20123 min read
Crying into my Coffee
Here is the text of my third Huffpo Fringe Diary (DJ took the groovy pic): I lived in Paris one glorious and angst-ridden summer in my...
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Between 2007-2021, Jillian blogged about her parenting adventures. Here is a selection of the most popular posts:
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