On many occasions Jenn and I discussed the right time to tell Penelope about her mother and father in China. With pre-school looming I wanted sooner than later, reasoning she should hear about adoption from us and not a classmate. So a couple of months ago I told Penelope she had a mother and father in China. Then […]
Like/Not-Like The Others
Several months ago I wrote about the experience of visiting ACCA’s pre-school Mandarin class at Emory University. It didn’t go well. Nevertheless we decided to enroll Penelope in the Spring semester class, accepting the risk of Penelope hating it. If she hated it we would withdraw her and forfeit the tuition. If she enjoyed the […]
Things Ain’t What They Used To Be
For the last year and a half I’ve written about our lives together. Adoption was often the focal point of those writings. To my surprise very little of what I wrote was inspired by how others reacted to our family. Strangers haven’t stopped and asked us “Where’s your daughter from?” or “How much did she cost?”. […]
Daddy Prognosticates…Discussing the One Child Policy
Deng Xioaping could never imagine a conversation explaining the “One Child Policy”, or “Family Planning Policy” as it’s known in China, to the children affected by it. Were he alive today and able to address the diaspora of Chinese children, what would he say? Being the pragmatic man Deng was I suspect the answer would […]
Past:Tense
Deanna Shrodes is revealing herself over at Adoptee Restoration. Come to think of it, she’s been revealing herself for some time. Only now it’s so personal I almost feel guilty for looking. If you’ve never heard of Deanna she is a mother, pastor, adoptee, blogger, contributor to the Lost Daughters collective, musician, and much more. Last week […]