Where’s All That Talk About Adoption?

When my hubby and I were preparing to adopt, we wondered just how often we’d think about adoption after we adopted. Would we constantly be obsessing about when—and how—to talk with our children about adoption? Would we forever be making nature versus nurture comparisons?   

We have open adoptions, with regular contact with our sons’ birth families, so the topic comes up quite frequently. But it’s not like we sit around talking about adoption every day.

Here’s the typical chatter around the Christianson household:

From my 15-year-old son:

“Mom, we need to go to the mall and buy me some new jeans.”

“Why? All your jeans fit just fine on the first day of school.”

“The don’t fit anymore. I swear. I can’t even zip them up. They’re waaaaaay too tight.”

“What have you been wearing since September? Haven’t you been wearing your jeans?”

(Exasperated sigh from my son). “No, Mom, I’ve been wearing my cargo shorts. But it’s getting colder, and I want to wear jeans.”

“Prove to me your pants are too tight. Go put them on and show me.”

Son trudges upstairs and returns a few minutes later, wearing half-zipped jeans that, truly, are a bit too snug.

“Okay. Go put in the next pair.”

He repeats the same scenario three more times; the last time modeling a pair of “high-water” jeans that are so short I start to giggle.

“You’re right. I’m taking you to the mall this weekend!” 

(Thank goodness for Veteran’s Day sales).

From my 11-year-old son, during breakfast:

“We’re having a test over all the states. We have write them all in on a blank map, and know how to spell them.”

“When’s the test?”

“Today.”

I gasp. “Today! And you have to know how to spell them?” (my son is severely spelling-challenged).

For the next 10 minutes, I quiz him on the spelling of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Mississippi (good grief…who invented these names, anyway?).

My son points at the map and brightens. “Here’s one I know how to spell! New Hamster!”

For more news and information about adoption, visit www.laurachristianson.com, and
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