Last night, I stayed up suuuuuuuper late to finish reading The Help. I really wanted to finish it before I see the movie. Can't wait!
As I mentioned in a previous post, we have had a nanny this summer (who is an old friend of mine), and she has been a huge help with the boys, not to mention a wonderful friend to me. Her name is Rebeca, and the two of us often find ourselves rolling our eyes/snickering at Jeremy because, oh my stars...the boy is so BOSSY!
"Mama, me ketchup!" he demands if he wants ketchup for his fries.
"Beca, me get down!" when he is ready to get out of his high chair.
We are constantly letting him know that bossing around any adult is a no-no, but as Rebeca says, "He is a real "jefazo" (bossy dude).
Hearing my black son boss around his white nanny struck me as such a wild juxtaposition against the scenes I've been reading in The Help, which is all about the black maids of the 1960s and the white families they served/the white children they raised. I'm so thankful for the courage of the civil rights activists of the '60s. It is not at all lost on me that our adoption of our beautiful African-born boys would have been absolutely unheard of just 50 years ago, and very likely frowned upon by our society.
I know that we, as a country, still have some serious strides to make in terms of overcoming our racial prejudices. Looking back, though, I'm so thankful for how far we've come over the past 50 years. My sons are growing up in a different America, and I hope with all my heart that no door will ever be closed to them because of their race.
I can't wait to see Jeremy's journey unfold before him. He such an amazing boy--loving, smart, communicative, and handsome! Now if I can just get him to stop bossing me around!
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Brian and Tracy
We became a family of four on August 30, 2010 when we adopted our two beautiful sons in Ethiopia. In March 2013, our Texas-born daughter made us a party of five!
Our Adoption Timeline
January 2009 - We saw Slumdog Millionaire, and God really began to stir our hearts about international adoption.
February 2009 - We had serious conversations and prayer about adopting from Ethiopia.
March 2009 - We had our phone orientation with Gladney (our adoption agency), decided to adopt from Ethiopia, and sent away for our application.
April 2009 - We submitted our application to Gladney, and began the paper chase!
May 2009 - We had our doctor appointments, continued the paper chase, and had our homestudy visit.
June 2009 - We submitted our last item of required paperwork to accompany our application to Gladney. Our homestudy report was completed and submitted to Gladney. On June 30th, our second anniversary, we received word from Gladney that we were fully approved to be an adoptive family through the Gladney Center, and that they sent our homestudy to CIS.
July 2009 - We received our "invitation" from CIS to come for fingerprinting. We were fingerprinted on July 18, 2009.
September 2009 - Our CIS approval notice arrived in the mail. Dossier completed and sent off on September 8. Placed on Gladney's wait list on September 8.
May 2010 - We received our referral for two boys--brothers--on May 24. The older is 19 months old. The younger is 1 month old.
July 2010 - We passed phase one of the court process on July 19th.
August 2010 - We traveled to Addis Ababa to meet the boys, go to court, legally become their parents, sight see a bit, and return home for three weeks. We returned to Ethiopia on August 30th, when they were placed forever in our arms! We are a family of four!
October 2010 - We received the boys' Certificates of Citizenship in the Mail from CIS!
November 2010 - We completed the Recognition of Foreign Adoption Decree process here in Texas, and received the boys' original birth certificates issued by the state of Texas!
Copyright 2009-2012 © ALWAYS AND FOREVER OURS
5 comments:
Jeremy can boss this Nana all he wants (he just has to melt me with "please Nana"!) XO
This is so cute! I think most kids will be bossy.. Too bad it doesn't end in the teenage years!! LOL..
Love,
Lisa
LOVED that book!Those kids were MEANT to be yours!
Such a good book and the movie was GREAT too!!! I laughed and cried the whole thing through;)
Brenda
I loved Nana's comment, where she said, all he has to say is 'please'. Because, really, that's the key, isn't it?
I read and enjoyed The Help as well. Interesting side note, I loaned it to Ted's mom, and she couldn't get through it. She lived in Guyana as a girl, and they had a black maid, who was her wet nurse and nanny. The painful separations between the nannies and the children, at the whim of the parents, were too much for her to bear.
I'm proud to count my dad as someone who worked to bring equality to our nation in this country. He was in Alabama trying to work the voter registration drives, and was almost lynched for his efforts. Scary! Thankfully, all turned out well. And now I can be married to my husband of Indian descent, which was not legal not too many years ago, and you can have your beautiful sons. Indeed, there is much work yet to be done. But I'm so grateful to the many, many people who have done so much.
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