Kaylee and I were watching Stuart Little during a Regan nap. We love watching adoption movies around here.
She was excited to see this one because, “It’s a new one I never seen before.”
She was so very excited for the Mom and Dad when they were looking for the right son/brother. Then they found and chose Stuart.
“But Mom, he’s a mouse.”
It opened up a great opportunity to talk about how a family doesn’t have to match to be family. Such a great movie for that!
I asked her, “Kaylee does Mama match Uncle Barry?”
“No…” I could tell she hadn’t ever thought about it before. That made me happy.
I asked her if I matched Yaiyai, Jack’ee, Sam, Abuela, Aunt Magie and her children. Pretty much my Mom’s whole side.
“No…. But why not Mom?”
“Well because families don’t have to match to be family.”
“Oh. O.K.”
Just like that. I love children. They just get things.
She is now pretty darn excited about the whole thing. She really likes surprises and has been wondering if she is getting a brother or sister for a long time now. Now she is also excited and wondering what they will look like. Because, “Mom they could have chocolate skin like Uncle Barry!” 🙂
Kid cracks me up! I told her that Barry wasn’t THAT dark, but that yes she could very well have a “chocolate” sibling.
(My brother Barry the “chocolate” one and me the random white child. 😉)
When you are filling out your epic mountain of paper work for adoption you get to fill out a matching sheet. Basically you can get pretty picky about what you are looking for in a child. We found that sheet awkward and uncomfortable. We are not picky. That is not to say those who want their child to match them are.
Since being certified to adopt we have been asked what we are looking for in a baby. Lots. Which is fine. People can’t help us look for what we want if they don’t know what we want. Right?
Our usual response is something like this: Um… A Baby. A human child.
I grew up in a multi racial family. Here is a small selection of photos of me with my Salvadoran family.
Barry, Me (blond), Jack’ee, and Aunt Maggie cooking Papusas.
Sing with me now: One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn’t belong….
Except I do. And I have never felt like I didn’t. Ever.
My siblings and I standing in reverse order. Barry, Sam, Me, Jack’ee. I must say I do blend in a bit better when my hair matches theirs. 😉
And finally the children with Abuela. Their Great grandmother.
Love is love, and Family is family. What’s the fun in being all matchy matchy anyway? 😉
