Sunday, February 18, 2018

We All Have Our Own Place To Belong

The book, "A House Is A House For Me" by Mary Ann Hoberman was a favorite in our house when the kids were growing up--especially for Olivia. It's a great book filled with colorful and imaginative illustrations and equally-imaginative text. There is no story line, per se, but rather one long thought process about (and I quote) "...the things that are houses for things." 

Here are a few of my favorite lines from the book: 

A web is a house for a spider. A bird builds its nest in a tree. There's nothing so snug as a bug in a rug, but a house is a house for me. 

A box is a house for a teabag. A teapot is a house for some tea. If you pour me a cup and I drink it all up, then the teahouse will turn into me!

Perhaps I have started far-fetching. Perhaps I am stretching things some. A mirror's a house for a reflection and a throat is a house for a hum....

A book is a house for a story. A rose is a house for a smell. My head is a house for a secret--a secret I never will tell....

Each creature that's known has a house of its own...and the earth is a house for us all. 

It really is a very sweet book-one that makes us think about the fact that everyone has a special place where they belong. 

So here's my question to you: Do your children know you cherish the house they are in? In other words, do your children know you love them for who they are? Do they have the freedom to be themselves without fear of being made fun of or chastised by you? Or are you guilty of trying to put them in a 'house' they aren't meant to live in? 

I'm pretty sure you don't keep your cereal in the butter dish or your socks in the dishwasher, so don't try to put your children in a 'house' that isn't meant for them. Love them for who THEY are so that the earth that is a house for us all will be better for having them in it. 

Love,
Momma D

                                              Copyright 2018 Darla Noble. No part of this can be used or copied without permission from the author. 
                                                                                 

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Adoption Has Its Own 'Brand' Of Morning Sickness

Last week I spent one evening babysitting my four and two year-old granddaughters. As I sat playing with two year-old Landrey, I was both thankful and impressed at how far her speech has come in the nearly five months since we welcomed her into our family and our hearts the night she and her daddy and momma (my daughter, Elizabeth) returned from South Korea. 

And then I thought of my five year-old grandson, Reuben. He has biological parents in Taiwan where he was born, but he's got his momma's personality (my daughter, Olivia) through and through. 

Both of my daughters who are moms through adoption went through a great deal of pain and sick-to-your-stomach feelings in the process of bringing their children home. 

As a mother it was painful for me to watch my girls go through so much to get their babies. It's not at all like pregnancy. Ironically it took nine months from Reuben's birth to get him here, but that nine months was time Olivia spent missing out on her son's life instead of physically making him. And in Landrey's case, it took a year for her to actually become ours-a year that included some stressful and difficult situations beyond our control. 

So what's my point? My point is to remind you that too many people consider adoption easy or a quick-fix for having a baby. My girls endured several comments about 'escaping morning sickness' or 'taking the easy way out' by skipping the pain of labor. Wrong! Adoptive parents go through months and months of their own 'brand' of morning sickness and labor-sometimes even years!

So be mindful of adoptive parents and their feelings. Be compassionate and most of all, be sure to give them all the love, attention and special treatment all expectant parents deserve. 

Love,
Momma D
                        When you purchase a copy of "Love, Momma D" 20% of the price will be donated to terminally 
                        ill children and their families to help with expenses beyond what insurance covers. For more 
                        information, you can visit my website: www.dnoblewrites.weebly.com 
                         
                                       Copyright 2018 Darla Noble. No part of this can be used or copied without permission from the author.