Mending Families is hosted by Melissa Pemberton and she brings you weekly content that is a mix of trauma aware interviews, parenting tips for those caring for kids from adversity, and stories from people just like you as they share their beautiful messy moments. Melissa hopes that when you listen each week, you will feel encouraged, inspired and take a little something away to help you and your family move from broken to mended.

Julee HIgley is a working mom of 3, married to her best friend, Nathan and an Enneagram 2 that lives up to that reputation! She loves helping people, whether it is her children, her friends, or her community, she has the biggest heart!

On today’s episode, Julee shares about how her family got into foster care and how that has led them down the path of moving towards adoption. Julee opens up about how their decision to foster didn’t happen overnight and through grief and loss in their life, they moved slowly. She talks about the ups and downs of foster care, and gives us some great things to consider when stepping into parenting kids from hard places.

If you are interested in learning more about Julee, you can find her on Instagram where she shares about their journey of fostering and adoption.

Topics Julee mentions:

*You can find Julee’s charcuterie business HERE (hire her…she’s great!)

*If you are a foster parent, don’t hesitate to get your kids assessed and into services. Also, be mindful of how overwhelming everything is for the kids.

*We have to pay attention to our own feelings and regulation just as much as we are paying attention to our kids. “It wasn’t all on them”

*Every foster parent should be in therapy.

*Community is not just important, it is vital!

*Consider supporting an adoptive family by offering babysitting, a shoulder to cry on, and even meals.

*If you are raising kids from hard, read more about trauma awareness. Julee recommends The Body Keeps the Score or The Connected Child. She also recommends a TBRI class, which Mending Families does offer!

*Find a community that can relate to what you are going through. Check out the Let’s Grow Membership as an option for this (Julee is a member!).

Where to find Mending Families:

Instagram - @mendingfamilieswa

TikTok - @mendingfamilieswa

Facebook - @mendingfamilieswa

YouTube - @mendingfamilies1594