My presentation is OVER
I was worried only four people would show but hey! I got five! (Several reasons for a small turn-out: Lots of people still lined up to get a signed copy of The Baby Thief; a couple of other FABULOUS presentations at the same time; last session of the conference when plenty of people had already gone home.) And the five people who DID show up were lovely people who helped create a conversation at the end of the program.
I saw two great speakers today, one being Barbara Raymond, author of the aforementioned The Baby Thief, and the other being a Dutch researcher whose name I can’t get to right now but who said that adopted people, like all of us, need “connection through history.” And talked some about the value of siblings in the adoptive family (adopted or not) because these are people who our children can either connect to from that sibling’s very first (as in the case of an older adopted child who is already there when a new brother or sister arrives) or who can connect them to their very first (as in the case of someone like Noah who has been there since Madison’s arrival).
He also made me feel very glad that we didn’t change Madison’s name.
In fact, there’s a lot that I heard at the conference that made me feel good about our parenting choices and there was other stuff I heard that made me feel determined to make new ones. (I feel like I’ve got a good handle on the adoption stuff but need to work on the transracial stuff especially since one mom quoted her transracially adopted son as saying, “Mom, adoptee issues are a luxury compared to race issues.”)
I will have more to say but I have a wicked headache and am leaving in about thirty minutes for the blogger meet-up!!!
YAY! You did it and it was cool.
Oooh, if you can remember the name of the Dutch presenter, I’d love to know it! Also, what did he say about naming?