There’s a baby in Emily Brownlow’s tummy. Emily Brownlow babysits for my daughter Saskia most Friday mornings so we’ve been watching her belly rise like dough in a bowl and talking about the baby inside.What do you think?
The timing’s good for us—to see this belly rise, and mull that whole “where babies come from” question. Saskia turns three in about a month, around the time Emily Brownlow’s baby will be born. The timing’s good for us not because Saskia’s going to have a baby brother or sister—we are not, Saskia’s the fourth, our eldest is fifteen and we are done with babies—but because Saskia is adopted and Emily Brownlow’s belly provides an opportunity to talk about birth and babies—and adoption.
Talking about adoption, birthparents, abandonment, race, and China with my kids. That's not all we talk about -- but reading this blog, you'll think it's all we do!!!!!
Monday, May 23, 2011
"Where babies come from" for an adopted child
In the New Haven Review, an account of talking about birth, babies and adoption:
Does she REALLY think her three year old is going to get this concept? The only thing she will understand is that a baby grows in the tummy and then she'll wonder why she can't see the baby.
ReplyDeleteThis prime opportunity to discuss will come along throughout her lifetime, thank goodness. Cuz today she is a concrete toddler thinking little girl.