What is a Mommy?

I talked a bit last year about the seemingly emptiness of the word Mommy as it rolls off a little RADtastics lips.  At times it feels like everything is so fake.  So I started asking my little darling the same question every couple of months:
What is a Mommy?
For a very, very, very long time the only answer I got was "gives me clothes" or "makes me food."
Now I don't discredit that answer completely.  (especially if your child was malnourished or worse--food could = love)  BUT it was clearly incomplete.  Your social history may be different, but for us, I was able to say, "Hmm, but the nannies in the orphanage gave you clothes to wear, right?" or "the nannies at the orphanage gave you food, right?"  "What does a Mommy do?"
Over time and hearing her siblings answers, she will now say "gives me snuggles, kisses me, helps me, teaches me, etc.  I don't know how much of it has really sunk in, but at least floating in her mind is the truth that there is something special about our relationship.... about having one of these Mommy-deals of your very own.

Talk it out

My kiddos came home around preschool age from an international orphanage.  All of them have vivid memories.  Some have more of them than others.  As they shared pieces of them, I was beginning to see that their memories, dreams and thoughts of that place were impacting our relationships at home.  We've had to have some very straightforward discussions.  I think what is most important in talking with these wounded children is truth. The beautiful and the fuzzy right along with the ugly.  The truth of what they've been through so that the Truth can be applied for healing.  Some awesome starters for your older kids:

Do you want to talk about (country/orphanage)?

What do you remember?

Do you have any questions?  I may not have the answers but I'd be happy to talk it out with you.

I am not good on the fly all of the time.  So I always have a few replies at the forefront of my mind before initiating a conversation.  (how did that make you feel?, that must have been scary, what did you do?  who else was there?  do you want to know more about that?  If I was there, I would have...., let me think about that and let's talk again later).

If they seem aloof or disinterested, just follow up with a:

Okay, if you ever want to talk about it, just know I am here.  Talking about (your birth country, birthmother or O) does not make mommy scared or sad.  I am your mommy and I care about what goes on in your heart!

I think very often there are big feelings just under the surface.  The anger is coming from somewhere.  They need to find a safe place in you.  A listening ear is a good place to start.

Siblings/Multiples

I think pre-adoption it was so easy to put things in cute little adoption boxes. Boxes that made sense in my mind. Some might have even had label-maker produced labels and little polka dots or bows. They were the boxes that helped tackle an insurmountable problem. There are orphans. Social or true. They would be hurting. They need homes. They need forever families. They need someone in their corner. The numbers seem overwhelming but with my boxes, things could be better, right?
advocate for ministering to orphans
decrease obstacles for Christians to adopt
biblical worldview on multiethnic adoption
be open to older child adoption
keep siblings together
learn all you can about attachment
know yourself to know when you need support and ask for it
and on and on

You get the idea. I was and continue to be hopeful. But I am finding that though the boxes are still helpful, they really come with termite holes and dust and dents. The one with an especially large number of holes these days is the 'keeping siblings together.' I think I would still fight for it, but I am seeing how social workers come to the conclusion to separate sometimes. In the long run, if there is healing, how precious is it that your children can share their history and their future? But in the middle of healing, it is so hard. I am bringing it up tonight for any newbies out there. I know in the attachment books they talk about siblings sabotaging each other when things start to go well. It is so much more challenging than an anecdote or short chapter can reveal. To be the interpreter of loss for 2 or more kids from the same background is insanely hard.
One wants to talk about it, one doesn't.
One has happier memories, one doesn't.
One will claim no memory of a place because such fear erupts from the other talking about it.
One wants to ask questions in the car, one wants to talk privately before bed.
One wants simple answers to many questions
One needs every detail to a few intense questions.

One is raging because of the fear, one is afraid to talk if it looks like this

But because they are not on the same page--emotionally or physically, don't process the same ways, don't have exactly the same experiences, and are not processing things at the same time, I soon feel like I have multiple personalities! I want to comfort and cry with the one who is hurting. I want to talk openly and honestly with the one who is questioning, even if it's in the car with the other kids but I also want to be sensitive to the darting, shocked eyes of the other that clearly doesn't want to talk about this right now. I want to rejoice and affirm the memories and answer the happy questions of the one that isn't processing gunk at the moment. But I don't want to make the other feel like she can only talk about the happy parts of what they've been through.

In short, it is a mess. It fits better into a garbage bag flung over my shoulder than a cute Pottery Barn box! BUT, there is hope. Here are a few things we've been using to wade through our mess.

~we make statements during regulated times to prepare for the messy times like,
"You can always talk to mommy about your (birth country) or your (birth mother)."
"Sometimes your sister/brother will talk about (birth country). Because we are a family, you can say 'I don't want to talk about that right now.'"
"If you want to talk to Mommy about something scary, Mommy wants to talk privately about it so I can hear you carefully."
"I saw you were nervous when sister was talking about XX. Do you want to talk about any big feelings?"

We also discipline for telling your sibling "Don't tell Mommy." We also discipline now (instruction/redirection at the beginning) for asking a sibling to meet a need. (This includes hurting a sibling so they will cry and mommy will come instead of calling mom yourself).

It's not pretty. There is sabotage. There is manipulation. But there is also a connection that has spurred them on. I don't deny that. I am hopeful they will heal. It may just take longer than if they had come home as singles. If you are parenting siblings or multiple children from the same orphanage, you are chosen by God for a special task. Please let us know if you have any other tips to success, too!