Day 13

Day 13. Different

I actually laughed out loud at this… And then realized how true it is! Not that being funny is the most important thing, but a good sense of humor certainly can take you a long way. My kids were young when we first adopted. My thoughtful oldest is the kid who self-censor; intense moments in cartoons are deemed ‘too scary’ and he removes himself from them. My youngest was just really young when we brought his sister home. A mama wants to protect her babies. But the reality is that I haven’t been able to ‘protect’ them from some of the hard things Adoption has brought to our home. And ultimately facing these hard things have been good for my babies. The way my kids have experienced life and faced challenges is vastly different than what I would have chosen...but it’s built character and chipped away a little selfishness along the way.

It’s common to hear my kids tell each other to use the ‘magic moustache’ when their brain starts getting out of control. They reference needing fidgets, using weighted blankets, and sniffing and cooling soup to calm their bodies. They have become mindful of themselves and of others around them. And they are empathetic now to those who struggle to self regulate. I never could have pictured this being the result of adopting our daughter. The lingo, the conversations, the tools and the parenting are so, so different than I ever envisioned. Somehow, somewhere along the way we have normalized ‘different’ and we are better for it.