I’ve heard the question asked before: do adoptive parents nest? I have wondered it myself, but now I am seeing it. I don’t have a due date like someone who is pregnant, but some part of me knows that the time for my child to arrive is getting closer and I am preparing.
It started with a general need to get things tidy. I started cleaning off surfaces and became obsessive about where things went. Then came the need to get rid of things. I started de-cluttering like crazy. My poor husband quickly realized that if he didn’t lay claim to something, it was going in the garage sale pile! Finally, I have been reorganizing cabinets. My sheets and towels are lined up in perfect rows and I reorganized my pantry to my liking (complete with labels).
All of this seems to come from a driving need to get things ready. Just like a woman approaching her due date with a pregnancy, I am approaching my due date for my adopted son. I don’t know when that date is, but I am preparing.
A lot of times people assume that adoptive parents don’t go through the same experiences as biological parents. Adoptive parents are often even dismissed as not being “real parents”. While I would in never say that the experiences of biological and adoptive parents are identical, they definitely have some similarities.
Nesting is a very human reaction to the fact that a child is arriving and life is going to change. Somehow, instinctively, we know that things need to be ready. That is the same, whether the child you are expecting grows in your body or just in your heart. Adoptive parents definitely nest and they definitely have that drive to prepare for their child.
So, I hope you’ll excuse me now. I have to go clean out my refrigerator.