by Jessica Satterfield | Jan 25, 2019 | Adoption, Popular
I glanced in the mirror one night when I was putting by children to bed and suddenly remembered that I didn’t grow them in my belly when I saw our reflection staring back at us. It might sound weird that I forget that my children are adopted, but I do.
Because to me, they’re just my children.
by Jessica Satterfield | Aug 19, 2016 | Adoption
I want my children to grow up knowing their stories. Although I don’t want adoption to define them, because really, they are just my children, it’s pretty obvious when we walk into Chick-Fil-A and people notice my white hand holding tightly to brown little fingers. I want to be able to talk freely with them about their stories from early on. I want them to know how brave their birth mom was to choose life for them. I want them to be able to tell their friends, when they ask why their mommy and daddy look different from them. I want them to be able to tell their stories. And I want them to be proud.
People ask me all the time about the books we read in our home to help spark conversations about their stories. There are so many great books written about adoption, but there are also a few books I have read that aren’t respectful to every member of the adoption triad. These books listed below are my favorite adoption books becuase they are so sweet yet respectfully explain, using developmentally appropriate language, the love a birth mom has for her child. But also the love and longing the adoptive mom has for her sweet miracle.
Even if your children aren’t adopted, I feel it’s important to have some of these books in your home. Children should be aware of differences and learn to treasure them among other children. Before I became a mother to black children, I would say I was colorblind. Meaning, I believed and treated everyone equally. Even though I forget sometimes that I didn’t give birth to my children, when I am out in public with them, I know people are not colorblind. Most people are intrigued by our family and merely stare out of curiosity. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. I have learned mothering children that look much different from me, there is no such thing as being colorblind. When we say we are colorblind, we are devaluing the differences and uniqueness in which God made us, when really, they should be celebrated.
These books are my favorite picture books that not only encourage conversations about adoption, but also perfectly describe diversity among families, friends, and communities.
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