Mario Tama/Getty Images
Child sleeping in a tent of the Children's Foundation of Haiti orphanage which lost its building in the earthquake.

It's been a year since Haiti was nearly destroyed by an earthquake that has been rated a 7.0 on the Richter scale. The death toll has been marked as being from 200,000 to 250,00. Millions more were left homeless, and what's even more upsetting than the death-toll and the massive injuries sustained by the country and the people is the fact that so little of the landscape has changed in a year. A million Haitians are still homeless living in tent cities. Less than 5 percent of the debris have been cleared, and the dead are still being uncovered in the extremely slow clean-up process. Did you know that 380,000 Haitian children are still living in tent cities one year after the earthquake? That's 380,000 out of the million homeless that are children. The picture above was taken this year.

So many wanted to help back in January 2010. I received numerous emails asking how to help the children of Haiti and rescue the orphans. Adoption wasn't possible then and the adoption process of already established Haitian adoptions were in a tortuous limbo for the prospective adoptive parents. But since then, Haiti is once again accepting adoption applications and processing visas.

So, if adoption was on your list of things to consider this year, is adopting from Haiti a good fit for you and your family?

Suggested Reading:

• How to Adopt from Haiti
• What Is the Help Haiti Act of 2010?
• Keep up with the Changing Headlines Regarding the World of Haiti Adoption after the Earthquake

Sources:
Haiti: A year after the quake, waiting to rebuild - Associated Press
Haiti earthquake: one-year report - UNICEF

Other Guides on the Parenting Channel have been discussing the different ways couples now share pregnancy news or the sex of their unborn. It's even an "in" thing with young families to have "baby sex parties" featuring a cake that once cut reveals a pink or blue tinted inside, thus announcing the gender of their baby. I think any idea that involves dessert is straight up genius.

So, it was natural for me to think about how we told our family that we were adopting. They weren't surprised the first time. They all about dropped out of their chairs the second time, but we have been blessed with very supportive friends and family. You know I think we were just very boring and said, "Hey, we're adopting from foster care." Creative I know.

I have seen such cute videos on YouTube, many of the videos are how the families announced their intentions to adopt a child. In many of the videos the couple or other children, hold up signs that tell facts about the particular country they plan to adopt from, or statements that acknowledge their desire to parent.

So, I'm asking readers to share by going to this simple form and answering one question - How Did You Tell Family and Friends that You Were Going to Adopt a Child?.

If you've already adopted, take a moment and share your adoption story too.

I have given up on making new year resolutions, mostly because I make the same ones year after year. It tends to get a bit depressing when I see I still have not met some goals. I prefer to make goals for myself from birthday to birthday, then it's more personal. But at the beginning of a new year I have started a new tradition, making a list of things I learned in the past year.

I haven't made my list yet of things I learned in 2010, but I will. I enjoy reading over past lists: what I learned in 2008, what I learned in 2009. I can tell you this, unlike resolutions, I have yet to repeat lessons learned. This definitely leaves me feeling more uplifted, like I did accomplish something during the year.

What have you learned in 2010? Take a moment and submit your adoptive parenting advice or submit your foster parenting tips or lessons learned with other foster and adoptive parents.

And Happy New Year!

If you're like me, you're still trying to figure out what happened to 2010. But, the year 2010, is over and in a few short hours will be, well, history! I thought it might be fun to look back on past blog posts and list the ones that were the most popular by you the readers here on About Adoption & Foster Care.

• Country Singer Jimmy Wayne Walking to Raise Awareness of Teens Aging Out of Foster Care

• The State of Adoption in Haiti After the Earthquake

• Reader Asks for Advice on Blending Bio and Adopted Siblings

• Reader Asks for Advice on How and When to Tell a Child About Adoption

• Russian Child Returned to Moscow Creates International Incident that May Have Halted All Russian Adoptions

• Sandra Bullock Adopted a Baby Boy - 3 Months Ago!

• Grant Awarded in the Hopes of Changing Long-term Foster Care

• Gay Adoption Ban Over in Florida

• How Do You Celebrate Adoption Anniversaries?

• Sheryl Crow Chose Closed Adoptions

I wish you all a very happy and safe new year! I hope 2011, brings much joy and happiness and of course, more interesting adoption & foster care news and blog discussions.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Other top blog posts for About.com Guides:
Grandparents Blog
Working Moms Blog
Most Interesting Parenting Teens Blog Posts
About Baby Most Popular Blogs of 2010
Favorite Posts on Family Fitness