# what format is your life story book?



## keemjay (Jan 19, 2004)

just wondering how your life story books are put together..when/if we ever get ours the sw has intimated that its basically laminated A4 printed sheets in a ring binder which i didnt think was particularly inspiring..at this present rate i might be going to do it all myself if i can get hold of the stuff from her (going to try and get her to download it all onto my menory stick) so i'm just wondering what i might actually make with it..i wondered about a kind of scrapbook but just thought I'd ask and see what everyone lese has been given/made themselves 

thanks
kj x


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## wynnster (Jun 6, 2003)

Hi KJ

Having got Munchkins yesterday we were both very disappointed, it's a photo album (still with the shop stickers on the front   ) and well it's content is wrong, the layout is wrong, there are gaps were there's supposed to be photos, one sibling is forgotten altogether and we're refered to as his 'growing up family' rather than his 'forever family'  

I've put together an age appropriate book on snapfish so it should hopefully look and read as a story book rather than a scrapbook which is what this previous one was like.  It depends on what you're after I guess a scrapbook type book may give you a more personal feel.

Wynn x


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## Suzie (Jan 22, 2004)

Ours is really good  ( surprising really ! )
Our sw team has someone who's job it is to just collect info/pics and do the books

It is a folder but not like a ring binder . A blue folder they had printed pages in it all with photos and explanations of birth family. On the front is a pic of c we took in Portugal last year on beach and printed sheet behind it is of sea waves ( childs beach page if you see what I mean? )
Then at the back is a bit about how he came to us with photos etc

If you want me to take a pic of a page so you can see and email it to you I can  obviously it won't have anything personal on it  
X


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## Old Timer (Jan 23, 2005)

Hi

Ours is in a scrapbooking album from Hobbycraft, the same sort I use for my photos, where the pages slip into a plastic cover, it is acid free so will not damage photos either.

The format of ours is the present, ie us as the adoptive family, the past, ie birth family, and then back to us and the future.  They have included photos I've taken since DS has been home as well as previous ones, lots of bright coloured paper and stickers.

The book 'Life Story Books for Adopted Children' by Joy Rees is a very good, easy book which basically gives the same layout ours is in.

I don't mind sending you a picture or 2 if it helps.

OT x


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## keemjay (Jan 19, 2004)

thanks, rather belatedly , for the replies//we finally got the books just before we went on our hols..they actually arent that bad and tbh i havent the time to re-do them nicey nicey..it is a ring binder with laminated pages..some of the pics arent great quality but being a bit of a photographer i am a bit fussy . the content is fine and littlie has loved looking through it so far
i have to admit i did have to take a deep breath as its the first time she's seen pics of BP's and them holding her etc..and she asked who they were so i said their names...so i feel like we're kinda at the end of the 'innocent' stage and sometime soon she's going to start the bigger questions and i'm going to have to say the answers..so far all she knows is she used to live at FC's, we havent gone back any further....
deep breaths...  and onwards....

kj x


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## Old Timer (Jan 23, 2005)

Hi KJ

Its hard isn't it starting off 'telling', we have spoken openly to DS about when we met him and him being in FC since day 1 but the last month or so I've added the bit about having 2 families and that birth mum couldn't look after him so he went to FC while they found mummy and daddy for him.  He just asked why she couldn't look after him and accepted the answer without any problems then carried on talking about other things.

OT x


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## ♥ M J ♥ (Apr 17, 2004)

KJ- i know how you feel about the deep breath and suck it up type thing-our DD wasnt LAC for long however doesnt remember much about birth family- we call them by name however we have had them now for over 14m and done our 2nd yearly contact and i talked to DD about it and she had forgotten who they even were- she knows i didnt give birth to her however other then that she knows that we are mummy and daddy and at 4yr old she doesnt ask any more about before her FC !

xxxx


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## CAREbear1 (May 15, 2005)

Mine, I've been informed is a Macbook thingy, though haven't got it yet- seems to be taking them ages. I really know what you mean about sucking in breath- I have all sorts of feelings I didn't expect to have about her past- and I thought I was very modern and 'right on'. Very different matter when it is actually your child and not a theoretical one  
xxx


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