[marythemom]

It's a bit different when you suddenly have 4 children instead of 2. We also adopted children older than our biochildren.

I get more stares and comments though when my 5'9" 190lb, 15 year old (who looks 17 or 18) calls me Mom. I look very young for my age and most of the comments and stares I get are from people who can't believe I have 4 kids (most of which are big for their age). Most of the time, I can head off nosy questions by trying to get them to guess which 2 are adopted! I had to adopt to get a brown haired, brown eyed child like me (so much for dominant traits). Most people guess wrong. My kids are usually very spacy and pay no attention to adults so I don't worry too much about them being hurt by comments. Plus, they know they are adopted.

I get a little tired of the "You guys are saints, I could never do that..." comments, but I like educating people about adoption.

My biggest thing is that I like connecting with other adoptive parents. Sometimes I see families with children that look adopted, and I just want to say something to them, but have never thought of an appropriate way to bring it up. Is that just as rude?