Talking about adoption

We have always wanted to be open with Zach about his adoption. There's really no point in hiding it from him... I think he'd figure it out eventually. What do you think?

We weren't hiding anything --- I often had conversations with adults about his adoption within earshot of Zach, but we really hadn't talked with Zach about adoption because 1) we didn't feel that he was at a point where he could understand and 2) we didn't feel that he could sit still long enough to try to understand.

I felt the Lord leading me to address the issue recently. So, I went a-Googling "talking to preschoolers about adoption" and wound up at Focus on the Family's site and printed out a couple of articles. This was our dinner conversation that night:

Me to Bill: I printed out these articles on talking about adoption.

Zach to Mommy: (who, by the way, is usually pretty oblivious to the conversations around him) What's adoption?

Me to Zach: Uhhh... ahhh... uhhh... Well, you are! (adopted)

You see, I wasn't quite prepared for his question at that particular moment. Bill and I continued to talk about other stuff when Zach interrupted...

Zach to Mommy: What's adoption?

Mommy to Zach: (trying to remember everything she had read in the articles) Well, adoption is when a birth mommy loves her baby enough to let someone else take care of him.

Zach thought for a moment and his eyes lit up and he said,

Zach to Mommy: So we can go to Toys R Us?

Mommy to Zach: You got it, buddy!

Preschoolers are waaaayyy more perceptive than we give them credit for, aren't they? So, adoption is now a part of our everyday vocabulary. Of course, we get a lot of looks when we are out and about and you can just see people trying to figure it out. Some people are not shy about asking if he's adopted or where he is from and I'm always excited to share about our adoption experience. 

One day Zach and I stopped at a fast food restaurant for lunch. The young man behind the counter looked at Zach and said, "He mixed?" to which I said, "Excuse me?" for I hadn't understood what he was asking. When I finally realized that he was asking if Zach was biracial, I explained that no, he is adopted. Zach then piped up and said, "I not adopted!" Typical silly boy!

The young man then asked, "So is it fun to adopt?" I smiled and said, "Yes it is. It is very special."

The day of Zach's birth, 2006