Seven LInks

I am SO stealing this idea from Tonggu Mama at Our Little Tongginator, who stole it fair and square from Heather at Production, Not Reproduction. Provide links and answers to the following 7 questions::

1) Your first post: Why? Why? Why?

A typical and not very interesting post to explain why I started the blog.  Now, if you want to talk about my FIRST EVER blog post, it was a post anticipating Zoe's referral.  Or what about the first post of Maya's travel blog -- announcing her referral!  And then there's the first post of the Xiamen Adventure blog, sharing our excitement as we get ready to leave for our 5-month sojourn in China.

2) A post you enjoyed writing the most: Wanted: Marriageable Men

OK, I admit it, this one was a blast to write.  I had my tongue so thoroughly embedded in my cheek I thought I'd require surgery to have it removed!

3) A post which had a great discussion: Fake Birth Certificate

I loved the discussion on this one, about amended birth certificates for adopted children, probably because most everyone who commented disagreed with me!  A close second was this one: What Makes an Adoption Ethical?  And the "Meant to Be" series (see I, II, and III) fosterd a lot of great discussion, too.

4) A post on someone else's blog you wish you'd written: Pendulum

From Margie at Third Mom -- she leaves as she started. I wish I had even half of her understanding of adoption issues and parenting adopted kids.

5) Your most helpful post: Being EXPLICIT About Race & Racism

OK, this was a hard one for me.  I like to think I'm all about being helpful;  I like to blog about tips and tools.  I'm big on lists and how-tos.  So I like to think I've done lots of helpful posts!  But most of my "helpful" posts have been squarely about adoption (like the Ten Commandments of Telling and the Adoption Book List), and this one about race & racism applies to EVERYONE.  Or at least that's how I'm justifying narrowing down to this one!

6) A post with a title of which you are proud: Adoption, Guns & Ammo Style

My titles are boring, merely descriptive.  I do like using song titles when they fit (What's Love Got to Do With It), and I love play on words, but you kind of have to read the whole post to get it, which isn't helpful for this list. I mean, Have Mercy isn't a funny title until you realize it's about Madonna's adoption of Mercy, and whether the court will allow her to "have" Mercy.  Some of the things my kids say make it into the title (My Uterus Hurts), but again, you have to read the post for it to make sense. So I just picked the Guns & Ammo one because it goes so improbably (or so I thought!) with adoption.

7) A post that you wish more people had read:  Amy Eldride of LWB Speaks

OK, I know this category is really for a post that very few people read, and THOUSANDS have read this post.  But the information is SO IMPORTANT that I want thousands more to read it.  I think the information will lead to more special needs kids being adopted, more support for LWB and other organizations that are doing orphan care in China and around the world, and better parenting of kids adopted from institutional care.  So thanks to all who have spread the word about this post, and keep on spreading it!

So there you have it, my seven links (with a half-dozen or so more thrown in -- I'm not a great rule-follower!).  Enjoy!