In this episode of Calendar Conversations, host April Dinwoodie leans into the profound emotional tension of May—a month often defined by Mother's Day and National Foster Care Month. For adoptive and foster families, May isn't just about flowers and brunch; it is a complex landscape of "disenfranchised grief," curiosity, and deep connection.

April shares her personal journey as an adoptee named June by her mother of origin and April by her adoptive parents. She explores why the "April showers" of original mother loss are necessary for the "May flowers" of a new family to bloom. This conversation provides adoptive parents with a vital "toolbox" to help their children navigate the questions they may be too afraid to ask.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Disenfranchised Grief: Understanding the loss that society often fails to acknowledge.

• Managing the Mothering Landscape: Why parents must heal their own mother wounds to hold space for their child's grief.

• The Bridge of Curiosity: Practical ways to validate a child's wonder about their mother of origin.

• National Foster Care Month: The role of foster parents as stewards of original connections.

• Managing Expectations: How to celebrate Mother's Day without placing the burden of emotional validation on your child.

Join us as we practice this month's mantra: Care comes from many hands.

• Acknowledge the Sadness: It is okay to feel grief even in a month of celebration.

• Be the Bridge: Ask the questions your child might be too afraid to voice.

• Self-Care is Child-Care: Manage your own emotional needs on Mother's Day so your child doesn't have to.

• Celebrate the Blend: Recognition for the original mother, the foster mother, and the mother raising the child today.

Links:

Learn more about April's work and book a parent coaching session https://aprildinwoodie.com/

Learn more about TRJ Family Camp at Ohio University July 30-Aug 2 https://www.togetheronthejourney.org/

Learn about Disenfranchised Grief in Adoption from Dr. Gregory Manning https://youtu.be/UYfAcHGkRLs?si=mbwcJgfSiouawB-0

In rural New England, we're taught that "April showers bring May flowers"—the idea that hardship eventually leads to joy. But for adopted and foster youth, the "showers" of grief, identity confusion, and ambiguous loss don't follow a simple weather pattern.

In this episode, April Dinwoodie explores why adopted children are often labeled as "dramatic" or "attention-seeking" when they are actually navigating profound emotional pain. April shares her own journey as a transracially adopted person and dives into the data from C.A.S.E. that highlights the unique mental health needs of the adoption community.

Visit C.A.S.E to learn more https://adoptionsupport.org/stateofpractice/#survey-highlights

March is filled with symbols of luck—four-leaf clovers, leprechauns, and pots of gold. But for many adopted people, the idea of being "lucky" can feel far more complicated.

In this episode of Calendar Conversations with June in April, April Dinwoodie explores the powerful narratives that often surround adoption—especially the message that adopted children should feel "lucky." While often well-intended, this narrative can unintentionally silence the very real experiences of loss, grief, curiosity, and identity that many adopted people carry.

April shares research on openness in adoption, explains the concept of genetic bewilderment, and introduces the L.U.C.K.Y. framework—a practical guide to help parents navigate difficult moments with empathy, honesty, and connection.

February holds Valentine's Day and Black History Month — tenderness and truth, celebration and resistance.

In this powerful February episode of Calendar Conversations with June in April, April Dinwoodie explores the gap between loving and protecting transracially adopted children.

As a Black woman raised in a white adoptive family, April reflects on growing up deeply loved — and yet not always protected from racism in extended family spaces, schools, and the broader culture. She shares how children absorb what adults interrupt… and what they allow.

In a moment when racism is more explicit and family separation is visible in public life, transracially adopted children are navigating layers of identity, belonging, grief, and racialized harm — often without adults realizing what is landing in their bodies.

This episode invites white adoptive parents to examine:

• Do you love Blackness beyond your child?

• Have you confronted racism within your own family systems?

• Have you built authentic relationships in communities that reflect your child's identity?

• Have you chosen your child's dignity over your own comfort?

Because loving the child entrusted to you through adoption is not the same as being prepared to protect them.

This conversation is about activist love — love that interrupts harm, aligns publicly, builds community, and stands between a child and the world.

Transracially adopted children deserve more than affection.
They deserve protection.

Belonging is a fundamental human need, yet for adopted persons, it is often a persistent challenge. While not everyone can fully grasp the lived experience of navigating adoption, separation, and dual belonging, everyone understands the rhythm of the calendar. In this episode, April Dinwoodie (June in April) introduces the calendar as a universal, practical parenting tool for planning and ongoing practice. By "Mapping What Matters," families can move beyond the silence of grief and "color-blind" parenting and begin to name the realities of identity and origin. April shares how her own history—being named June by her parent of origin and April by her adoptive family—taught her that multiple truths can exist side-by-side on the same calendar. Learn how to use this shared rhythm to create a brighter path to belonging for the children entrusted to you.

In this episode of Calendar Conversations – A Guide for Adoptive Parents, host April Dinwoodie explores how adoptive families can rethink holiday traditions with intention and openness. Rather than following rituals simply because "we've always done it that way," April invites listeners to consider which traditions truly foster connection, honor a child's full identity, and create a sense of belonging.

From embracing meaningful new rituals to letting go of those that no longer fit, this episode encourages families to celebrate difference and build traditions that reflect their unique stories. April also offers reflection questions to help guide conversations at home as the year comes to a close.

A thoughtful, grounding way to close out the year—and to step into the next one with clarity and heart.

In this November episode of Calendar Conversations: A Guide for Adoptive Parents, host April Dinwoodie invites listeners to reflect on what it means to set the holiday table with intention in complex times.

Thanksgiving is often framed as a celebration of gratitude and togetherness—but for many, including adoptive and transracial families, it also stirs deeper emotions and difficult truths. April explores how this tension mirrors the complexity of adoption itself: the beauty of connection intertwined with loss, absence, and identity.

With honesty and heart, April offers practical ways to approach the holidays with greater reflection and care—creating space for grief, gratitude, and the full story of family.

This episode reminds us that the most meaningful traditions aren't about perfection; they're about truth, inclusion, and belonging.

Key themes:
• Honoring the complexity of Thanksgiving and adoption stories
• Setting the table with intention and awareness
• Inviting family of origin and multiple truths into your celebrations
• Practicing narrative equity and making space for the whole story

This October, host April Dinwoodie explores the masks we wear — the ones we put on to belong, to stay safe, or to make others comfortable — and what happens when we start to take them off.

Through the lens of adoption and identity, April reflects on how masking often begins as a form of protection and survival, especially for adopted persons navigating complex narratives about family and belonging. She also invites adoptive parents to look at their own patterns of masking and how curiosity, honesty, and empathy can help everyone in the family feel seen and safe enough to be real.

With a special focus on transracial adoption, this episode examines the cultural tensions of the Halloween season — from costumes to cultural appropriation — and offers reflective questions to help families unmask with courage and compassion.

Belonging begins with truth — and every time we unmask, we make it a little easier for someone else to do the same.