Okay, I really need to have answers at the ready.
I was at the self-checkout today at the supermarket with our DD in my arms, and 3 of the store clerks (young AA teenage girls) crowded around, saying how beautiful she was and asking her age etc.
One asked, "What is she mixed with?"
Me: "Um...AA and CC" (which is not technically correct - her bfather was from the Caribbean. She caught me off guard!)
Her (with a smile): "And you're the AA part...?"
Me: "Um, well, sort of. She's adopted."
I felt so DUMB afterwards! I know that people assume that she's my biological daughter when we're out. And I am her father. But I'm so used to thinking of her as mixed, that when that girl obviously assumed that I must be one of her biological parents, my mind didn't register quick enough. Because I said what I said, the whole "adoption thing" came out.
I don't mind telling people that she is adopted, but I don't feel like telling people who have no business knowing, like a store clerk I don't even know. Also, as I walked out the store, I felt like I'd put a label on her, like she's "the adopted one", and couldn't just be my daughter. It's her story to tell , not mine as some sort of justification. Argh! .
