1) "Wow, she doesn't look like you! Does she look like her daddy?"
Now clearly Charlotte IS adopted and this question totally caught me off guard. I think the Walmart checker that asked this knew that Charlotte was adopted but, this was her way of verifying that. Please, we would rather you just come on out and ask "Is your daughter adopted?" Talking about adoption is something we talk about all of the time in front of her.
2) "Oh, she is so cute.....I want one of those!" Please do not refer to my child as an object to "get"....like you could "get" her at the store. There is SO MUCH to the adoption process and lots of paperwork...it is not a simple thing.
3) "Where'd you get 'er? An older man walked up to us in a restaurant and this was the first thing out of his mouth. Now I understand wanting to know where she is adopted from but, this is NOT the way to ask it. I wanted to tell him the stork brought her, but I refrained. :) He went on to say "My cousin got one from Vietnam." UGH! I understand his intentions were probably nice so, I took it the way it was intended but, his wording was not the best.
4) "Wow, I would never take on anything like what you have in store with her teeth & cleft." REALLY? That's ok...but to us, her dental work & cleft issues have been really minor and most of the time, we forget all about them. She is not definded by them...she is just a precious child to love!
5) "She is just so blessed to be in America & have you as a family.." Yes she is...but, lets not forget this came with a price as well. She left everyone and every thing she knew. She left China not understanding English at all and that makes for a hard transition for any child. And, trust me, WE ARE THE BLESSED ONES....we get to love her. So try to understand that we believe we are both equally blessed....us to have her and her to have us.
I really don't think most of these people were meaning to be rude, they were probably just curious. I don't want to discourage anyone from approaching adoptive families. I simply want to educate on the best way to do that. The nicest way I have been asked about Charlotte was when I was in a local restaurant. An older lady approached me and said "Tell me about your beautiful daughter." This opened the door in a positive way to tell her what I felt appropriate and then she could ask any questions.
I love talking to people about Charlotte and about how we have been blessed through adoption so, I do not mind questions at all. And if you know someone that is thinking about adoption, or has questions, please tell them to contact me.
How could we not be blessed, seeing this sweet smile every day?!?!
