Ignorance

Many people have asked me about how people react to us being a transracial family. Today I had two funny things happen so I thought I would share them with you so you could see some of the ignorant things people say. I should tell you that many days, although many people will stare, we usually never have anyone say silly things like this.

I met Alison B. for a quick lunch/shopping trip. I stopped in Janie and Jack to look for Christmas shirts for the boys. I was holding Charlotte while Alison and Norah were outside the store waiting on me. I quickly found two sweaters and headed to check out. The sales lady, who was very nice I might add, began commenting on how sweet Charlotte was. She was asking me questions like how old is she, how much does she weigh, etc. I then told her that I wasn't her mom. She then asked me how many kids I had, I answered and then told her our youngest was adopted. Her face immediately lit up and she said, "it's so funny you mentioned adoption. I was just telling my family we need to go to the town orphanage and see if we could help out." I just smiled, paid and left, wishing her good luck in her endeavors. Good luck finding the town orphanage.

Then, it was off to lunch and then playland for Norah. While Norah was running around, I was sitting there holding Charlotte when another sweet lady approached and asked how old she was. I told her and then she asked if she could touch her hair. Sure. Then, she asked me how much she weighed. I said, "um, I'm not her mom, I'm not sure" to which she said, "well, that's obvious that you aren't her mom" I felt like I had been smacked. I wish you could have seen her face when I then asked Alison how much she weighed and loudly said, "and there's her big sister" and pointed to Norah. Hmmm...shouldn't assume I couldn't be her mom.

I make ignorant comments all the time. We've all asked how far along a woman is when she really isn't pregnant. I guess I just try to be more aware of what I say now. That "normal" is no longer 2 kids and a white picket fence. I love being a transracial family. I love that others feel comfortable around us, especially those that also don't have the traditional family.