Jane Brown's Adoption Playgroup

We signed Nora up for the Adoption Playgroup put on by Jane Brown who is well known in the adoption community. I have to confess, one of the main reasons was that it was in the next town, so I would felt kind of guilty not signing her up. I thought that we would see how it went for Nora this year and could decide if we wanted to send Ji Ji and Jiang Lei next year.

There wa a parents meeting on Friday night and Nora had her 2 hour playgroup on Sunday afternoon.

I have to say, the experience was great for both Nora and I. Nora was very nervous as she didn't know what to expect and I didn't know what to tell her to expect. However she saw a girl from her school there and that made things much easier.

While Nora was in her playgroup, they showed a video to the adults titled "Unlocking the Heart of Adoption". It focused mainly on domestic adoptions but it included discussions with adult adoptees, birthparents and parents who adopted. It was quite moving and really made me think.

I don't know all of what went on in the playgroup, though I do know they had volunteers who were adult adoptees and adult birthmothers. Nora told me afterward that one of the things they did was to draw a picture of themselves with their birthmother. Also, they learned some techniques to use if kids are teasing them for being different.

I am sorry that I didn't send Ji Ji and Jiang Lei, but hope to send them next year. Some of the feedback from the parents who had sent their kids in previous years was very inspirational.

One thing I learned from this experience is that even though our kids are not talking about their adoption or asking questions, they are definately thinking about it alot. It is our responsibility to get them to express their feelings, whether they want to or not.