Yesterday was our adoption agency picnic. Each year that we go, we get to see the two little girls who came on the plane from Korea with my son. We get to see how they’ve grown and how their personalities are changing.

This year we brought my friend’s little girl A. If you’ve read my earlier posts, you’ve heard about A before. She’s a regular fixture in our lives. A is four, but she and my son have always gotten along well. One of the earliest pictures I have is of a very blond two-year old A helping my six month old sit up. I’m not sure why the... more

One of the things that I found after my son arrived from Korea was that I was reluctant to let him grown up. He was six months old when he was placed him my arms, but to me he was brand new.

Even though he was old enough to start solid foods and sippy cups, I didn’t start them right away. I wasn’t ready to give up my baby. Because of that, I was slow to start him on everything.

Hind site is 20/20 and now I realize that I should have been more careful. The older he got the harder it was to get him to move to the next stages. He didn’t... more

Because I’m visiting a new location, I’m finding myself explaining my name and my adoption again. After all, my name (unless you include my middle name) does not sound remotely Asian. Some people assume that my last name is my married name (after all it’s still fairly rare for a woman to maintain her maiden name after marriage) so that doesn’t bother them much. However, they are always asking me what type of first name I have. “Irish,” I tell them.

Sometimes, I let people walk away confused. However, because I have to work with these people (even if it will be long distance after this week), I generally launch into my adoption explanation.

I generally get two reactions:

1. Interest... more

When my sister was in school, she didn’t like my parents to come to events – orchestra concerts, plays, etc… She used to tell them it was because they were old and it was too embarrassing. Later, she admitted that she didn’t like the explanations that came with having Caucasian parents.

My mother was lucky (or unlucky) enough to have raised both extremes. She had me who proclaimed my adoption status to whoever would listen and my sister who wanted to keep it a secret. Because of this, she is a great person for a prospective parent to talk to because she can talk about both sides of the issue.

We were talking awhile back and she commented on how lucky my son was because... more

If the lingo is confusing (I know it confuses me.), KAD stands for Korean Adoptee.

Today is the day. I’m off to North Carolina. It has occurred to me that not only is this the first time I’ll be away from my son for any length of time, but it will also be the first time I’ve traveled alone and only the second time I’ve been on my own for any significant amount of time. How odd.

Really, I went from my parents’ house…to living with my roommates…to living with my husband. Alone is really not something I ever had to do. When I was seventeen, my parents went... more

My son is growing up. We haven’t quite mastered potty training yet (not even close) and he’s still sleeping in his crib, but he’s definitely growing up. Every day it seems like he looks less like a baby and more like a little boy.

He’s talking more now. I can even understand him half the time. We were at a restaurant on the way to Ohio and he was standing up in the booth looking over the back. He waved to some people. I told him he should sit down and he told me, “I look at the peoples.” The word “peoples” made me and my husband laugh. “Hi,” my son called to the strangers... more

Well, you can tell that it’s almost the 4th of July. The nights have been full of booms and crackles from various backyard parties. I love fireworks, but not when they are being launched fifty yards from my house. When they’re that close, all I can think of is the potential of near misses and sudden fires.

I’ve always had a special place in my heart for the 4th of July. It’s probably because it’s such a big deal in my family. On my father’s side it’s been a big day since he was a child. The way we celebrate has changed over the years, but the celebration... more

I’m a little agitated today. Not only did I forget to post today (until now), but someone parked in front of my mailbox today and the mail wasn’t delivered. Grrr. I was expecting pictures that I ordered today.

Okay, so beyond my frustration, I’ve been thinking about stories again today. In particular, I’ve been thinking about “when you were born” stories. My friend is going to have her baby tomorrow. I’m very excited. It’s her third child. She has a girl and a little boy already... I made sure I was on her calling list and she promised me that I am.

I... more

Due to space and time constraints, I have chosen to discuss this survey in several parts. You can read the whole survey at this link. Any quotes and specific data in this blog come from this survey.

The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, in conjunction with Holt International Children's Services, undertook a survey of the participants in The Gathering to gain greater insight into the experiences of Korean adoptees since they began arriving in the U.S. and Europe in 1955…

I found this whole survey to be very interesting because it covered adoptees from 1955-1985.... more

I wrote about separation anxiety before and I’m suffering it at a whole new level right now. In the past, I was telling everyone that I didn’t want to let go of my son for even a few hours. Well, now I am about to embark into uncharted territory.

Our representative at our North Carolina facility has resigned and it will be at least another month before we are able to fill the position. There was much discussion on what we would do. One of the ideas was that they would a hire... more