A moment from the madness...

Finally I’m catching up. Sidney is on her morning off from school, hanging out watching Puuca. I had to G**gle it to make sure it is about Chinese people. She loves it, and I’m thrilled she’s listening to anything related to China.  If you’ve watched it, much of the animation has Chinese themed buildings and backgrounds. We seem to be turning a small corner to China. One day she made reference, and I can’t remember what we were discussing, to “bad China.” We’ve been able to offset this fear with an understanding of “good China.”  Of course “good China” doesn’t involve hearing the language spoken. That’s one challenge I think will take her a long time to overcome. I’m envious of other adoptive parents that can send their kids to Chinese cultural centers for activities and classes. I think if she was exposed often enough she might be able to understand it doesn’t have to be associated with negativity.  There’s been a brief window with the owner of our local Chinese restaurant. She speaks to Sidney in English, however she teachers her one word phrases. This doesn’t seem to be as intimidating for her.

And speaking of the little miss, as quickly as Sidney reverted a couple of weeks ago, she popped back to her old self.  Adoption is metamorphosis. Part of the changes that take place as she continues to shed her rough exterior (any parent who adopts knows there isn’t a set time for emotional healing), I am reminded to everyone outside of her close friends and family, she is every bit a regular American girl. Yet as Tom and I know, there is an emotional fragility that’s hard to explain.  That being said, fragile is not the word I use to describe her feisty disposition.

I can’t remember if I posted Eli in his glasses. I’m assuming not, because he seems to resist any effort  on my part at photography. His teacher pulled me aside at the beginning of the school year, noticing he was having difficulty seeing the board.  His work was starting to suffer. I was shocked to see papers coming home with all kinds of red. I’m not bragging when I say Eli is a smart kid. This wasn’t his normal. It was my trigger that something was definitely wrong. After waiting a month we went to the eye doctor. Once he got the glasses and adjusted to them, his work was back to normal. And he’s been good  (so far!) about taking care of them. Plus, and he would not be happy mom was saying this, he looks adorable.