The Role of Parent

I take being a parent quite seriously. Maybe it's because I've always wanted to be a mom more than anything else. Maybe it's because for awhile I thought I wouldn't be a mom and that was scary. Maybe I feel my girls deserve the best mom ever to make up for the possibility of them feeling rejected by their biological mother. Maybe it's because I was chosen to parent two lovely girls and because I was chosen, I take it more seriously. Whatever the reason, I'm often thinking or reading about how to be a better parent.

Am I driven because I am an adoptive parent? Yes, I am. I know I wouldn't put nearly as much energy into bettering my parenting skills if I had biological children. I think it'd be easy to be more complacent and take the children for granted, if it all would have come easy.

But shouldn't all parents take parenting more seriously? Absolutely. If people were less selfish and spent more time with and thinking about what their kids need to become balanced citizens, we'd have a better balanced society.

Comical Adoption Ramblings

I thought of this the other day and I couldn't help but chuckle, so I thought I'd share. I was thinking back to when we picked up our second daughter from the hospital. The town she was born in was 2 days drive from where we live. So we stayed in a hotel overnight on the way there so our eldest daughter (2.5 yrs at the time) could have a break from sitting in the car (she was so patient!) and get a good night's sleep!

We continued the drive the next day and arrived at our destination- another hotel in the town where our second little one was born. I'm skipping over alot here, but I'm trying to get to the funny part. We picked up our sweet little dear the next day and started driving back, stopping at the same hotel, since we were already familiar with it.

Well, when we went down for breakfast the next day, we received some, shall I say, very confused looks. First of all, staff noticed that within a matter of 2 days we had another child. Second, I, the mom, didn't look pregnant the first time they saw me and certainly didn't look like I had just given birth 2 days prior. People asked how old the baby was, she was 3 days old at that stage and they were shocked once again, because she was a -big- baby and I am not a -big- mom.

When we arrived home, my husband took my eldest daughter to a class, while I stayed home with our new babe. A friend of mine, who knew about our second adoption happened to be at the local community centre and asked my husband how the baby was. The woman she was standing with didn't know we were an adoptive family and she was really shocked and said she saw me just last week and I didn't look pregnant, how could I have given birth- my husband explained that we're an adoptive family so the pieces came together for her.

Comical? I think so! I've talked about how the second adoption was even more emotional for us than the first one was for us, but that doesn't mean there weren't a few funny bits too. Live, Love, Laugh!!!

Adoption Scrapbooking Supplies

I forgot to mention in my previous scrapbooking posts about where I found adoption scrapbooking supplies. I looked in a few local scrapbooking shops and couldn't find any papers or stickers that were related to adoption. It's always a good idea to ask staff in the store as they may be able to order some supplies for you even if they don't have any in stock.

I bought adoption stickers both on Ebay and from a website called Scrap and Tell, http://www.scrapandtell.com/. The supply on Ebay changes on a regular basis, so if you don't find anything, keep checking. The Scrap and Tell website specializes in adoption scrapbooking supplies and has alot to choose from. I found their service to be excellent.

Unfortunately, my eldest daughter's adoption story scrapbook was already finished before I thought about looking for adoption scrapbook stickers and supplies- but I have lots for my younger daughter's adoption story scrapbook!

Happy Scrapp'n!!