Last night network TV aired the 7th annual Dave Thomas Foundation Adoption Awareness program A Home for the Holidays.
Makala and I watched together which I actually think is a healthy activity. I am careful to talk with her a lot about feelings when we watch something on the subject especially if any of the issues hit close to home.
I am feeling good about how well Makala is doing and the fact she seems to respond to adoption stories, or the heart wrenching waiting child pleas appropriately. I try to remember when Tori and I may have watched a program together like this and how we might have chatted about the content. I am assuming that if Makala has what appear to be normal responses to such the same information then it is normal.
One of the families profiled were older and had raised biological children. They adopted sibling girls and this story was a mirror to how our family is put together. Another sibling pair of a brother and sister were profiled and the children had been in 13 foster homes before being adopted by a younger active couple. Makala remarked how horrible and sad it was that these kids had to have 13 foster homes and we both felt sorry the children had such a long journey and in awe they had such a nice ending.
We were able to talk about the fact that it really is amazing how families are put together sometimes. Makala told me, “The important things that matter are loving each other all the time and being safe and taking care of everyone.”
I was able to talk about how special I feel that I was able to have my two more children and how much I love them. Watching this program made our life seem like it is common sort of. Makala asked me how these families got to be on TV and I explained that they had been invited by the people who made the program just like we invited people to come to our Christmas party. I asked her if she thought we should go on the show next year and she said, “No, our story is not big enough we found each other pretty easy and I didn’t live in too many different families.”
There are not really too many words that I can write about how this makes me feel. The average family would not understand why these words sound like the most beautiful words an adoptive mother of a child with Reactive Attachment Disorder might ever hear. All that I can say is wow and my beautiful baby might just be okay after all
Special Needs and Adoption-Related Terms:
A | B | C | D | E-F | G-H-I | J-K-L | M | N-O | P | Q-R | S | T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z
For more information about parenting special needs children you might want to visit the Families.com Special Needs Blog and the Mental Health Blog. Or visit my personal website.