For the past several weeks, I have been using this blog as a means to inform people about adoption. Part I and Part II presented several comments that adoptive parents frequently hear. These comments are not usually meant to cause offense, but they may inadvertently upset an adoptive parent or a child who has been adopted. This post will deal with the comment that I hear more than any other when I am out with my children.
“YOUR KIDS ARE JUST BEAUTIFUL”
This is a comment that I don’t mind hearing over and over again. And I do. All the time. I realize that previous posts have focused on negative comments, but the fact is that most of the comments my husband and I receive are about how beautiful, and even well-behaved our children are. We feel very comfortable in our neighborhood, school, and church, and we really only get positive reactions even in our larger community.
When we started the adoption process six years ago, our caseworker recommended a specific book about transracial adoption. I read it as if it were required reading for a college class. While this book contained a lot of useful information, it also gave me the impression that our family would be met with stares and criticism wherever we went. That has not been the case in the five and a half years we have been a transracial family. We do occasionally get one of the comments or questions I mentioned in the earlier posts, but more often we hear “What a pretty baby!” or “You’ve got a couple of good looking boys there”. How do we respond to those sorts of comments? With a “thank you”, of course!
And speaking of thanks, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our family and friends who have been so loving and supportive of our family. (You know who you are and that we love you.) My husband and I realize that the most important thing is that our kids are happy and healthy. Because of the kindness and caring of our friends and family, I am confident that our kids will always feel loved and respected. Because of the help and encouragement from our family and friends, our kids will grow strong and sure in a safe, secure environment. We continually thank God for all of you.
2 comments:
We are interested in adoption too. I need to go through your archives!
Are you in West County by chance? Cause if so, there are several of us moms who blog out there. We might even live fairly close to each other!
I am always happy to talk about adoption and the wonderful experience we’ve had with our kids. If you'd like, you can send an e-mail to zookeeper at reddyzoo dot com and we can "talk" more about it.
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