The other day, a little girl (about 8 or 9) was commenting on how cute the boys are. She asked if they were mine and I, of course, said they were. Without any hesitation she replied, "I can tell; they have your eyes." I smiled, said thank you, and we went on our way. At first, I just kind of chuckled over the whole thing. But then, I realized how refreshing it was for some one to just so simply accept our family at face value. She didn't launch into a series of questions about how they came to be a part of our family, where they are from, how much it cost (yes, I get this a lot), what happened to their birth parents, etc. Instead, she accepted my response and found a resemblance between the three of us...just as most people would do with most families.
This is not to say that I feel burdened by the questions that people ask. In fact, I really enjoy any opportunity in which I can share the blessing of adoption with others. If I had thought that my family wouldn't draw some attention in public, I would have been just plain naive. However, what I didn't necessarily expect was the number of people that would ask questions just to be nosy. I've even had people stop me so they can try to figure out what ethnicity their fathers must be if I'm their mother...
On the flip side, we receive so many positive comments from wonderful people. Not a day goes by that we don't get stopped so that an older lady can play with the boys, or comment on how cute they are. We are constantly having cashiers and waitresses digging through boxes of goodies just trying to find something to give them. We even have a lady at Taco Bell who gives them free drinks and cinnamon twists. The attention we receive is almost always positive and comes from well-intentioned people.
But, all that to say, it was so nice the other day to have a little girl simply accept our family at face value, no questions asked:)
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