“Is that really your sister-she’s white and you’re black?”
It’s true…my five year old daughter was asked this by a grown man while we were getting pedicures on our “Mom & Daughters Date” outing. This is just one example of the uncomfortable questions my Ethiopian princess faces from time to time. Fortunately, we have prepared my girl and the question didn’t appear hurtful to her so much as she answered that “people don’t have to look the same to be a family”.
Desperate for a tool to teach my family to cope with question or comments, I turned the Center for Adoption Support and Education or C.A.S.E., got information about their W.I.S.E. Up! workshop and learned four ways to respond:
Walk away or ignore what is said or heard
It’s private, I don’t have to share
Share something about my adoption or foster care story
Educate others about adoption and foster care in general
You can learn more about this program by visiting http://www.adoptionsupport.org/.
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