[JessTK]

I have read in several places about celebrating "adoption day" with your kids. I am wondering if any families do this and if you have been adopted, how would you feel about this. Would it be a celebration or just a constant reminder for a child. My sons are now young and I know, from what the older one says, that he really doesn't think about it.....yet.

[sak9645]

She came home when she was 18.5 mo. old and is now 7 years old. We celebrate Family Day -- the day on which I met her and finalized my adoption of her overseas -- every year. We celebrate because we are very thankful that we found each other; she needed a Mommy and I needed a little girl, and the Chinese government (clearly with God's help) put us together.

Our celebration is very low key. It is not like a birthday. Becca and I generally go out to a special dinner together, sometimes with another single Mom who adopted in China at the same time; she now has two daughters, the second one added recently. Sometimes I give Becca a book that relates in some way to adoption, or do something else that is adoption related.

You have to understand that, when you adopt transracially or transculturally, the fact of adoption is with you every day. Also, we are big advocates of adoption, and talk about it all the time. So Family Day is not the only time we discuss the subject or celebrate the miracle of adoption. However, the anniversary of an adoption is a very personal and special time in the life of a family, and deserves to be remembered.

[vicrose]

I am an adult adoptee and every year when I was growing up, the agency that I was adopted through would have a huge reunion barbeque for they're adopted kids. We had moved to Fla. when I was pretty young, so we never got a chance to go to any of them, but the postcard came in the mail every year. Adopted children should always feel loved, and by someone celebrating the togetherness of the family,it is a wonderful thing, it will make them feel loved and wanted.

[Jensboys]

Our boys were 3 and 4 when we adopted them. Every September we celebrate "Family Day" (rather than adoption day as we have biological children as well) The focus being that this is the day we all became a family. We have friends over (sometimes with other adopted kids, sometimes not) and a cake and balloons. We do the "3 Candle" ceremony every year - lighting one candle to recognize the kids birth family, one candle to recognize their foster family and others that worked to bring us together, and one candle to recognize who we have become -- HOORAY A FAMILY We do not exchange presents but do use it as a time of celebration and reflection. Often around that time our kids get quite emotional (not at the party itself) and usually we deal with some "adoption issues" as well. Good luck!

[Indiaadopt]

We adopted from India.

We celebrate Family day and a gotcha day because my boys did not get to come with us. Last year was her 1st gotcha day. We heard about this site from another group I am on and we bought an India blanket and 2 USA blankets for our bio kids and talked about adoption and had a fun day with the kids.

Here is the url for the site

www.yammiwear.com

They have great gotcha day/family day stuff.

Terri

[Bcelli]

My husband and I met and married in Hawaii, so when we adopted our son from Russia in 1998, we decided to celebrate 'OHANA' day each year on the anniversary of our finalization. Ohana - for anyone who hasn't seen Lilo & Stitch - is a Hawaiian word for family, but it's a more inclusive term than the traditional family. We usually do something special, but not too extravagant - children's science museum, Chucky Cheese, train ride - something our son enjoys.

[dmanion]

We also call the day we met our daughter "Gotcha Day" and celebrate this day with a special gift and special dinner. Our son was just adopted and we were fortunate to have been in the delivery room with him so since he does not have a "gotcha day" other than his birthday, we have decided that we will celebrate both on the gotcha day for my daugher by making it a special "family day" still with a special gift for each and special dinner.
It's very special!

[madison3]

Hi!
We have two adopted daughters, (one now 19, one 10) and they look forward to their adoption day. The oldest daughter was 8 when she was adopted, the youngest 5. They are very proud of their special day. We have a tradition where I sing them the adoption day song I made up for them in the morning of their special day when I wake them up. Then, if it's a school day, they take special treats for their class. That evening, we go to a special restaurant, and celebrate with gifts and cake. They look forward to their special adoption day more than they do their birthday. "Everyone has a birthday.....not everyone has an adoption day!" That's what they tell their friends proudly! The more we focus on all the love that came with being adopted, the more adjusted they grew into it as well. It's something we never try to hide from anyone, and something we are all so proud of in our family. It's how we got together, and we thank God all the time for this!

[Sandee]

This sounds wonderful! We just finalized our adoption of 2 little girls, ages 5 and 4, Dec. 10. My husband and I have discussed this but I didn't know if people really did it and how it would affect the girls. They know their adopted but it's not something we go around talkig about. We have two bio- sons, ages 14 and 11. I just want to make a special day for them.

Sandee

[HappyTwinsMom]

...November 28, 2001. This year "adoption day" fell on Thanksgiving Day. So far, we haven't really celebrated, but it's something DH and I talked and reminisced about on Thanksgiving. We're not sure how much we're going to emphasize it for the girls as they grow up. It will certainly be a subject of conversation and if it seems that they want to make a big deal out of it, we will. Otherwise, it'll probably be pretty low key.