Friday, February 20, 2015

Make Your Home a Reflection of Your Family

When it comes to transracial adoption:

Love isn't enough.

Love doesn't conquer all.

But love, of course, is important, crucial, vital.  It's life-giving, confidence-inducing, foundation-building.

(Shout out to Christina Romo, the Not So Angry Asian Adoptee, for her Huff-Post adoption article boasting of similar sentiments!)

There are several things that are very important when adopting transracially (all of which are detailed in COME RAIN OR COME SHINE: A WHITE PARENT'S GUIDE TO ADOPTING AND PARENTING BLACK CHILDREN):

  • Having a diverse group of friends.  Real friends.
  • Seeking support from your child's racial community in areas you are struggling in: hair care, for example.
  • Living, worshiping, playing, working, and educating in a diverse community.
  • Raising your child to be a child of color by engaging, on a regular basis, with people of your child's community and being educated on issues that affect your child's racial community.
  • Standing up to injustice.
  • Being open and honest and empathetic with your children about adoption and race.
One way to support your child racially is to make sure he or she sees faces like theirs within the home (the place where he/she will spend a lot of time and it will be their "soft place to fall" at the end of every day).   

My children LOVE seeing someone who is, in their words, "brown like me."  My kids are very proud of their brown skin and their intricate hairstyles.  We've made it a priority to make our home a place that reflects our love of our multi-racial family.  

Here's a photo tour of some of the literature, art, toys, and textiles around our home.


















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