Friends Reunited

I need to start this post off with a confession. Our family had made the decision that we weren't going to get all wrapped up in our local chinese children's organization. We made this decision based on a number of different factors. One- being that it is an hour away from us, most events are held at 6:00 at night-during the week. Two-alot of the families are just...how do I say this nicely...different. McGyver and I completely understand the importance of helping Dreamsicle hold on to her heritage, but after attending a few of the local groups meetings I was a little bothered. Some of these families live for these meetings, this is their social circle. You don't fit into their lives unless you have adopted a child from China. That is fine for them, but that's not us. One of the moms that I know has called me repeatedly to set up play dates with our daughters. I agreed to the first one, thinking it would be two toddlers, having fun together. I backed out at the last minute when she told me that she had went ahead and invited 10 other little asian girls so that all of our "China dolls" could play together. Ummmm, I don't think so. In fact, Dreamsicle's day care provider has another little girl who came home from China last spring. She really doesn't care too much about her-she's attracted to the chunky little red headed boy who also attends the daycare. I want Dreamsicle to have a wide range of friends, not to make her feel as if the only kids that matter are the ones that look like her. I know that she is only 14 months but the patterns we set now are the ones we will likely follow.

BUT! I have to tell you about what happened on Wednesday. Dreamsicle had her first pediatrician visit. When we were going back into the lobby after having seen the doctor, we ran into a family whose daughter came from the same orphanage as Dreamsicle. These two girls spotted each other, Dreamsicle was in my arms and started shouting with glee-the other little girl can walk already and she made a beeline over to me. I placed Dreamsicle on the ground and these girls couldn't stop squealing-they were holding each others hands, hugging each other and were just purely happy. The joy radiating from the two of them is hard to describe. It moved me to tears. So-it looks like we will be having some playdates with this family in the future~with ground rules firmly in place before we start. I owe it to Dreamsicle to help her build this relationship for as long as she and the other little girl wish to.