I agree with everything you just said about Little Women. I finally got around to reading it about 3 years ago and wondered why I had waited so long! I loved it! My all-time favorite classic is Alice in Wonderland. I've loved that one since I was a wee little lass.
I'm 32 years old and I still believe in you. Each year I struggle with the idea of selling Santa to my kids, I wonder if they'll be angry when they find out I've imagined your existence. And each year I'm reminded, in subtle ways, why I do it. Sure, there's the bonus of tricking my kids into good behavior - after all Santa is always watching. But that's not it, not really. Right now there are a lot of 'ughs' and 'ohs' and 'too soon's go 'round. Christmas carols already? Aisles filled with ornaments and wrappings and ribbons when we haven't even cut the turkey yet? Ugh, oh, too soon! But, Santa, you embody all that is good and right in the human being. You are kind and gentle, happy and generous, hard working and persistent. You don't let little things get you down, in fact they prop you up (go elves go!). You're overweight, but who cares? You don't see color, race, religion, or any of those artificial...
I assume that one day you will come to me wanting to know who you are, where you came from, where your other family is and why they gave you to us. I offer you little bits of information already, but certainly not crumbs enough to satisfy the appetite. Perhaps it won't matter to you. I am assuming a lot, already, about how adoption will impact your life. People often wonder why adoptive parents are hurt when their children seek out biological roots. I have the answer, and it's very simple. Adoption - at its core - makes us question the legality, authority, voracity, and validity of parenthood. For most adoptive parents, first you must come to terms with an issue that strikes at the foundations of mortality: fertility. From birth, most of us are driven to form families. First we are nestlings, nurtured and weened and eventually taught to fly. Then we are nest-builders, filling our lives with the stuff necessary to drive life forwar...
Motherhood is more than carrying a child in your womb for 9 months. Motherhood is more than daily wiping of noses, cleaning of faces, filling of bellies. Motherhood is more than driving, shopping, cleaning, cooking. Motherhood is part of being a Woman, but not all of it. It is part of growing up, for some of us. It is conducive to gaining appreciation, but not for everyone. I was still a child myself, really, when I became a Mother. Joshua and I did a lot of growing up together. We both learned a lot about sacrifice. I learned how to say good-bye to him in the morning, he learned that separation from Mother wasn't such a bad thing after all. Especially since he got to go to Grandma's house (which, sorry Disney, was the happiest place on earth). I learned I could love someone until my heart might burst and be completely enraged at the same time. He learned that the wrinkling of my forehead was not a good sign for anyone. We learned a lot about time, more specifically abo...
Comments