Since I'm basically sitting here spinning my wheels, waiting for certain governmental agencies to either complete my paperwork or open up to accept my dossier, I've been using my free time to do some additional adoption reading. Last night, I came across some definitions that I thought were kind of funny.
Natural Child: Any child who is not artificial.
Real Parent: Any parent who is not imaginary.
Your own child: Any child who is yours to love.
Adopted child: A natural child, with a real parent, who is loved.
And this quote, from a mother of a mix of bio and adopted children: "When someone asks me if these children are all my real children, I respond 'No, one of them is fake'".
Oftentimes the best response is a little bit of humor.
We've been fortunate. Almost everyone we've come in contact with has been supportive. We're really pretty hard to offend. If someone says something offensive, I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt, know they are likely just curious and have expressed their interest without thinking it out thoroughly. I assume the best and answer the question. I have a "no drama" policy. But I did find humor in these definitions. :)
Keep praying that the closure is quick! We're almost ready and WE WANT TO GO!!
Funny :)
ReplyDeleteI like the "no drama" policy too. And if someone asks me, "How many of your own children do you have?" they usually realize right after they say it that they stated that sorta wrong.
I only had one person not mean well. That's when we stepped off the plane in San Francisco from China with our little sweetie, and a lady yelled out, "Why didn't you get one of ours?" hmmm....well, since we are all God's Children, I'm pretty sure I did :)
Yeah, I think some people just don't know the right words, and a kind and patient and firm response can be a good witness to the Lord!
ReplyDeleteYour definitions are a hoot! I'll have to remember those!