interesting conversation

In light of my recent post on the topic of Esther's Chinese heritage, I thought I'd share the conversation Esther and I had last night. As I was putting her to bed, out of the blue she announced, "MY China." Well, maybe not quite out of the blue. I had earlier included her birth family in our bedtime prayer, and I think I referred to them as her "birth family in China." But anyway, here is how the conversation went:

Esther: MY China.

Mommy (trying not to act too surprised): Yes, you come from China.

Esther: Little.

Mommy: That's right, we came to China and got you when you were little.

Esther: Blankie.

Mommy: And we brought your green blankie and gave it to you in China.

Esther smiled and settled into her blankie, and the conversation was over. We tell her regularly, of course, that she used to live in China and that we came and adopted her there. And I have mentioned several times that we brought her green blanket with us when we came to China to adopt her. But it is interesting to see how she's starting to "own" these narratives.

I wish our library had a picture book about the birth family side of adoption. This coming Saturday is Mid-Autumn festival. It's very much like Thanksgiving in that it's basically a celebration of harvest and family togetherness. It seems like a good day to remember Esther's family of origin. Last year we missed the festival altogether because I wasn't paying attention to the calendar. But this year we have already bought our mooncakes (a traditional Mid-Autumn Day food), and on Saturday we're going to eat mooncakes and talk about Esther's birth family.