Who woulda thought that that woulda happened at IHOP!?

I am blessed to work at a place that gives me the week between Christmas and New Years off, and that it’s paid!  Not only that, my dad’s birthday falls during this week, so it’s been our tradition for me to take him to lunch (just the two of us) on his birthday!  Since I have become a mama, obviously, K has joined us and my dad loves it even more now, I think.

So, as per our usual, we went to a late breakfast/early lunch and it was his choice of where to go. My dad, being the decadent guy that he is, chose IHOP!  When I asked him why, he simply said, “I think K will like it because you can see the train tracks from the window, and I like the food, why?”  I wasn’t’ berating his choice, I just didn’t think that this would be his choice since I was footing the bill!!!

But as I have learned, everything happens for a reason.  K does love the view from IHOP.  He can see all the cars on the 6 lane road and the railroad crossing—it’s like a little bit of heaven for him!  Yet, this time was different. As we were walking out, this woman approached me and asked me where my son was born!  I could tell by looking at her that she was from the Motherland, but wasn’t sure if she was Ethiopian, Eritrean or Somalian (not saying they all look alike, so don’t send me hate mail, I just didn’t want to assume anything!!!).  After I told her he was born in Ethiopia, she said, “I am from Ethiopia too!  Can I ask his name?” 

Fast forward 15 minutes.  It was an amazing conversation in the parking lot of IHOP.  Come to find out, her son shares K’s birth name and she lives locally.  She was stoked to discover that there was a little Ethiopian community right here in Orange County.  I shared with her about all of our friends and that we were celebrating Timket in January and that we had just recently eaten at Tana Restaurant in Anaheim and that many of us have gone to culture class in LA. 

We exchanged numbers and she hugged both K and me.  As with most of my encounters with Ethiopians, it was beautiful!  But, it was not only a wonderful encounter; it was fantastic for my dad to see it as well.  Since my dad didn’t travel with me to pick up K in Ethiopia, he hasn’t seen much native, adult Ethiopian reaction to my adoption.  He has asked me, on several occasions, how Ethiopians feel about Westerners adopting “their” kids, so I know it’s a concern of his.  He is very aware of my feelings about making sure that not only K, but others KNOW that he is ETHIOPIAN-American! He was so happy to have had the chance to talk with her and hear her thoughts.

As we pulled out of the parking lot at IHOP, we were all grins and basically shared the same sentence over and over—wow!  Who woulda thought that that woulda happened at IHOP!?

National Adoption Awareness Month

November is National Adoption Awareness month!  Let’s get involved somehow in the orphan crisis worldwide, please?!

So Why Adoption?

I hear many people say that adoption is a great cause - “I’ll definitely look into it if I can’t have my own kids.”  While that is the reason many couples across the globe choose to turn to the wonderful method of adoption to bring little bundles of joy into their lives, it shouldn’t be the only reason one considers adoption. 

The Need

The need for loving families to adopt is great. In 2008, it was reported by the Children’s Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that in America alone, there were 123,000 orphans (NumberOf.net).  But why should we? It’s not our fault their parents’ died or are abusers or druggies or have been put in jail, right? What does it matter to us?

As humans, we desire to help others and to heal the hurting.  The issue of orphans and the lack of adoption taking place to help them is a large problem in today’s world - a world we all call home.  Many organizations are reaching out and identifying the needs orphans face around the world.  Social workers, humanitarians, activists - all are seeing the need, the hurt, and going to being a better life to a child in need. 

Consider It

While I strongly believe that as many loving families as can should adopt, I am not saying it is for everyone or should be required for every family.  What I do strongly believe is that every family should at least consider the possibility of becoming an adoptive family, helping orphans in some way, or find a way to assist an adoptive family.  Adoption is not something every family can or should do. However, every person should help orphans in some way or another.  

My hope is that, this month, this blog will encourage you to consider ways to get involved in supporting the cause of the orphans and adoption.

What will your role be?

Public Discipline

It’s no secret, K is from Ethiopia.  As many of you know, I taught myself a bit of Amharic so that I would be able to communicate with him when I brought him home.  I knew that he would be verbal when I traveled and I wanted him to have “something” from his homeland (since I had basically taken him away from everything he had ever known within 5 days of meeting me).  I wanted him to know that I respected him as a person and that I love Ethiopia, its culture, and people as much as I love him. 

But now, he refuses to speak it.  He understands Amharic and will respond in English, but won’t use any words except, “I love you!”  Even having said that, I use it A LOT.  Granted, I am not fluent, nor do I claim to be, but I have about 50 phrases that I still use regularly with him.  Most of them are terms of endearment or punishment…  The other day, I was at a supermarket that I don’t usually go to when I had to scold him.  In public, I choose to discipline him in Amharic so I don’t have to look at the faces of all the mom’s questioning my parenting skills, and they do…  Ironically enough, after scolding him in Amharic, I hear a cart in the next aisle almost racing down the row, and from around the corner comes an Ethiopian woman who simply says, “I wasn’t expecting you to be white!”  All I could do was laugh and say (clearly not how these words are spelled, but phonetics work for me), “Selam! Ah-te-free!  Sih May, Char” and then K chimed in with, “I’m K!”  We only shared a quick moment, but what a beautiful moment it was. As she left, she said something to him in Amharic, kissed his forehead and the tops of both of his hands, as did so many lovely people on the streets of Addis Ababa.  It blessed me.