Think about your life story. Where you were born, your childhood, the friends and family who were there along your journey. It’s probably a story that you’re quite familiar with. You know the ins and outs and you’ve told it in varying degrees of detail many times throughout your life. But what if your life story was something of a mystery? What if the same family wasn’t always there; the caregivers changed and the homes were never the same and friends came and went as you moved or changed schools — or even moved to a whole new country.
Everyone’s life story is unique in some way and each story is valuable. Helping kids learn, understand, and talk about their life story and adoption is an important part of being an adoptive parent.
We know that a lot of people have questions about adoption – adults and children alike. And we know that kids get asked these questions; other kids are asking, or teachers, family friends, or even strangers. So, how do you help prepare your child?
The Adoption Magazine blog has a great post about this topic. We also have a tip sheet about this topic: Empowering Your Children to Share their Adoption Story.
Depending on the age of your child or children, you can use books or even movies to help talk about adoption. We have tip sheets about Adoption Focused Books and Adoption in the Media that you might find helpful. And you can also refer to the posts at the Adoption at the Movies blog.
For even more help and advice – for both parents and children – we are hosting a W.I.S.E. Up! the World about Adoption one-day conference in Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday, April 13. While parents participate in a workshop that gives them an in-depth look at what children understand, think, and feel about adoption as they grow, children will learn the W.I.S.E. Up! tool and how that tool can empower them to handle questions and comments about adoption.
How have you tackled the topic of adoption in your family and with your children? Please share your stories, thoughts, and experiences in the comments and feel free to link up other blog posts about this topic there, as well.
ARW Blog 