Black Mamma

Many of you may not know this: We adopted two (sisters) from Haiti last year (we are approaching our one year anniversary). It has been a crazy year of transition in so many ways for our family, but things are really settling in and getting "normal" (for us - for most it would be considered "nuts"). My oldest adopted daughter just turned 6. Her English is coming along very impressively...which we often take for granted...but she still has a limited vocabulary which limits her comprehension at times. She rolls with so much, and is so bright it is easy to forget she is ESL.

When she was in the orphanage, they often talked of their "new family" and "new home". They had pictures of us and we visited once in the process. She was in the orphanage for almost 2 years. They used to call her birth parents, your "black mamma" and "black pappa" and us her "white mamma and white pappa". (We prefer to call them her Haitian parents.) Since she is six she is very aware of "clothes". I recently started making the little girls skirts like their big sister. (simple long A-lines) They LOVE this! She says "Now I can dance like Mamma and Hailey". (We love to Hebraic Dance; she equates our long skirts with dance.) It is very sweet to witness her feelings of "inclusion" in our tribe's dress. ;-) Anyway...I am bunny trailing again.... She always likes to point out whenever any the girls in the home are matching in style or dress...which is becoming more frequent as I am making her skirts.

This morning she and I were both wearing a black short sleeved shirt, and black wide leg pants under a skirt. She ran to me with excitement and declared..."Look Mamma, you're black - just like me!" I hugged her and we both laughed, because she realized what that sounded like. I smiled and hugged her again and said, "Does this make me your black mamma now?!!". She got my humor and laughed and with great acceptance. Than she said, "Yes! You are my black mamma now!". It didn't take her long to develop the family's sense of humor!