This post is a compilation of reasons to adopt from my adoption friends over at FRUA. Thank you.
"A hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove, but the world may be different because I was important in the eyes of a child"
-Author Unknown
1. To learn to be a kid again.
2. So I can lose the 15 pounds I gained with adoption #1.
3. Because I always wanted to Adopt Two Boys.
4. Because I have looked into the eyes of an orphan
5. Because I have seen those same eyes sing with joy in such a short time
6. I needed to find my little girl - was I ever shocked that she was in Russia of all places!
7. Because then I got to hear "I love you" from a child on my first Mother's Day.
8. We wanted to share our lives with somebody who didn't have a chance to have a life.
9. Because children are always a blessing
10. We prefer our children potty trained and talking back when they arrive.
11. Because very child deserves a loving family
12. Because every family deserves a child if they want one (or two or...)
13. To fill a hole in your heart. Kids have a way of giving you something unimaginably wonderful to look foward to every day.
14. Getting snuggles and mega-kisses.
15. To re-discover what it's like to experience something for the first time.
16. To make every holiday (especially Christmas) 100000 times better
17. To realize you don't have to give birth to a child to love them with all
your heart
18. to realize that all work and no play really does make you dull
19. to realize that it really is harder than you will ever imagine...and make it through.
20. To see my parents being wonderful grandparents and hear them say "your'e being too hard!"
What is that about")
21. Just because I always wanted to be a Dad...PERIOD.
22. Because I finally am beginning to understand some of the things that go on between me and my sister.
23. Because nothing is as annoying as two brothers bickering - but nothing is sweeter than two brothers helping each other through something tough.
24. Because now his brother has to play fireman 1,000 times in a row (and I can rest).
25. Because now there are two people who understand that the following knock-knock joke is funny: Knock knock. Who's there? Banana. Banana who? Banananananananananana!
26. Because now I can be warm on both sides when I'm watching TV.
27. Because dividing things into fours is much easier than dividing them into 3's.
28. Because now I don't worry so much that my son (either of them) will be all alone again if I'm stupid enough to walk in front of a bus.
29. Because before I adopted my older son, my motivations were entirely selfish - I wanted a child. And after I adopted him, I couldn't forget the faces of the other children waiting.
30. Because I LOVE changing poopy diapers when my son is supposed to be potty trained!
31. Because even though he may have a boo-boo, I love that I am the one he wants comfort from.
32. Because I love giving zerberts on toddler tummies!
33. To take the road less traveled to parenthood. It's full of gifts!
34. To never have a boring, empty, or quiet moment again in our lives! Unless you stay up until midnight.
35. Because People said I shouldn't.
36. Because I don't know what my dog would do if he didn't have someone pulling his tail for the last 5 years.
37. Because people always tell me that my son has my eyes, then we look at each other with that "I know something you don't know" smirk and I say Thank you... I know.
38. Because someone (not knowing I am an adoptive mother) once told my that they believed that infertility was a sign that a person wasn't meant to have children. And I explained to her that that would mean that I wasn't meant to be a mother, and that my son was meant to languish in a Russian orphanage for his young life....She politely apologized.
39. Because I can't remember life without my son
40. Because working on the dossier for our second adoption has reminded me of the equivalence of pregnancy and adoption....Once you see that smiling face, you forget all the pain.
41. Because I have never known such a volume of feeling in my life: joy, frustration, pain, pride, and affection
42. Because how can you love a child more than totally?
43. Because I was meant to be a mother, and they are a more important and more meaningful learning and teaching legacy than anything I could do in my career.
44. So that at the end of the day I can go to sleep knowing I have best job in the world...as mom
45. So I could pass along to a child all the wonderful experiences my parents gave to me
46. To meet the neighbors (who I barely waved to before DD came into my life)
47. To know that a painted seashell is the best Mother's Day present ever
48. So that I could go to Disney movies with a good excuse
49. So I could dance around the living room to loud music and not have a care in the world with my princess
50. The best reason to hear "I love you" everyday from the sweetest little girl I know
51. So I could teach my son to dance on top of my feet.
52. To learn to appreciate so many things I took for granted before...a hug, a kiss, trusting another person...for my baby boy to finally feel safe in this world and know someone loves him.
53. So I could look into a little's girls eyes and see love, hope, a future. That her hug could take away every stress in the world.
54. So I could hold a sleeping baby and simply watch them breathe.
55. So I could learn what AD, RAD, SID, SPD, ADD, ADHD, ODD, PTSD, IA, PI, FAS, IEP and so many others stand for.
56. So I could share my bed with not only my DH and 2 dogs...but a 3 yo and a 5 yo and actually miss getting kicked in the face a few times per night when they decide to sleep in their own beds for a night.
57. To learn that I am so much stronger than I ever thought possible.
58. Because it gives my parents great joy and revenge to see me have a child just like me.
59. Because our family needed a child (Children?) to be complete.
60. Because there is unutterable joy in looking at my child and watching her bloom and knowing she belongs here with us.
61. Because Play-Doh feels sooo good squished in between toes.
62. Because finding your purpose in life and finding the souls you were meant to spend your life with brings a calmness and a center you know you would never have known.
63. Because for once in my life I did something truly great.
64. Because you haven't lived until you've been puked all over and the only thing you can think of is "I'm so glad that I'm here to a take care of him/her when they are sick."
65. Because I was a happy person but I was still not content.
66. Because everytime I tried to abandon and rationalize why "normal" people with healthy children do not go to Russia for a child within days of 9/11, I had no peace.
67. Because I could never look at a child and wonder why he/she was not mine.
68. Because I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would look back on my life with regret if didn't go through with this.
69. In the end, I was right. Life is doomed for misery if you don't risk love.
70. Because my husband didn't waver.
71. Because I selfishly like being the one my son wants to: kiss his boo-boos, hold his hand till he falls asleep, see all his "tricks" and help around the house. I am also the person who he feels comfortable enough with to push my buttons, throw a fit and act like a real pain - and this give me the bragging right of being his "mommy".
72. Because the "Story of DS" would not be the same without the plane, another plane, a train and a car. Not to mention...the baby who slept between his mommy's legs on the train back to Moscow, Dr. Boris saying he has "Budda belly" and picking up our dogs from the relatives that kept them for the month we were away. Somehow going to the local hospital and giving birth just seems too boring to be told EVERY night.
73. Because there was a child on the other side of the world who looks just like my nephew and acts just like me that we had to meet and bring "home".
74. To bring hope back to couples with infertility issues
75. To bring hope back to orphans who don't know any other way of life
76. No stretch marks
77. Because I love to do mountains of grass stained, mud stained laundry.
78. I needed to catch up on my cartoons.
79. Because I did not want to go through another round of infertility treatments when I knew in my heart that it was not going to work.
80. Because my 86 year old father is madly in love with his first grandchild.
81. To wake up with a 3 year olds feet in my face and his face in my feet
82. Because I just wasn't ready for an empty nest at 40-something when my only biological child was a teenager, driving himself to school
83. Because suddenly when he grew up, my house was way too organized and decorated and "perfect" and that was somehow sad
84. Because I didn't want to get a little dog and dress it up and call it my surrogate kid (like my friend did at 40)
85. Because it had been way too long since I sat on the floor and played with blocks and toys
86. Because just when I could finally afford the really gorgeous expensive girl clothes, I didn't have anyone to buy them for!
87. Ditto for all those cute little dolls and the big fancy dollhouse I'd always wanted to buy!
88. Because I just really, really, really LOVE being a Mom...and I knew there was someone out there who would feel the same way about having me for a Mom again (true!)
89. Because otherwise I would have been a way-too-possessive Grandmother in a few years (Give me that baby!)
90. Because just when I felt pretty confident as a Mom, there was no one to bestow all that expertise upon (and prove me W-R-O-N-G more than a few times!!!)
91. Because who wants to pay the house off early and retire on schedule and selfishly entertain themselves for the next 40 years anyway?
92. So I could watch my son grow into a little boy.
93. Because being the source of the best tickles on earth is better than any paid job on the planet.
94. Because my daughter needed a daddy, and knew it; while I needed a daughter, and didn't know it.
95. Because it gives my parents great joy and revenge to see me have a child just like me.
96. Because our family needed a child (Children?) to be complete.
97. Because there is unutterable joy in looking at my child and watching her bloom and knowing she belongs here with us.
98. Because we wanted to hear the sound of little feet running around the house.
99. Because we were meant to be a family from the minute they were born.
100. So that I could learn to give of myself unconditionally...regardless of the response.
101. Because there are an unlimited number of firsts to share with a child, no matter what the age of that child. There is a joy in hearing your child’s first laugh whether it is a baby’s giggle, a toddler’s chuckle, or a child’s chortle. There is a wonder in watching your child’s first step whether it is the wobbly one of a toddler cruising around a table, or the hesitant step of child getting the courage to cross a room to meet you. There is such pride in hearing your child calling you mommy or daddy, whether it is the primitive syllables of an infant or the careful iteration of a child speaking a foreign language. There is trepidation in sending your child to school for the first day, whether that is kindergarten or fourth grade. And there is such melancholy in realizing for the first time how much your child has grown, regardless of the starting point.
