We have been reading a lot of books about farm animals and talking about the pictures of baby animals, mama animals and the picture of a rooster, who is often the one ‘dad’ who is clearly identifiable in the farm books. A little while ago I realized that Bee’s concept of Dads was that they were roosters. With a few more books and talking about some real life dads, she now knows that dads can also be blue*, penguins** and people.
In general, I would like her to grow knowing that there are all kinds of families and all different kinds of ways of living in the world. For me this links in to the donor issue which is this weeks topic in the carnival blog Love Makes a Family. Bee will grow up knowing that a donor helped us to have a family and that we are one of the many different kinds of families out there in the world.
The world is as much of a wacky small place as it is huge. We could run into a child with the same donor at the farmer’s market and quite possibly did. I could be following blogs of familys who used the same donor as us. It is time to roll with this. I am opening the door as far as connecting with donor siblings. I wasn’t sure what to do with that door before. I felt some pressure that I needed to have a plan in place before opening it. But really, what plan could cover all circumstance from the farmer’s market to the Donor Sibling Registry? While connecting with donor siblings isn’t cutting edge, there isn’t a clearly traveled path in front of us either. Right now our door is open on the donor sibling issue and we will see where it takes us.
*One Dad, Two Dads Brown Dad, Blue Dad. By Johnny Valentine
**And Tango Makes Three. By Justin Richardson, Peter Parnell
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We’ve opened that door as well, and so far so good. I agree that it feels like uncharted territory, and something we are taking one step at a time.
I am so excited to see if you find sibings and how those relationships pan out. Good luck!
Kai’s concept of Dads comes from the Knuffle Bunny book. Every now and then she asks “where auntie? where mama? where daddy?” We answer and with the daddy part I usually say “we don’t have one of those” to which she says “yah, in kai room. book.”
hrmm.
This carnival…perhaps I will participate…just need to focus…