Have you seen the new cover for The One and Only Me?

Susan did a fantastic job bringing these books to life with color! She stayed with the familiar theme of the book using Ricky the Raccoon. The new cover is so creative using a “ME” riding on a swing hanging from a tree. The simple leaves create a great canopy over the swing. The slight glow of a sunset or sunrise is in the background. Besides bringing a lot of creativity to the book, it now offers some real flexibility. On the previous cover there was a box marked out for a child’s 5 x 7 photo. If a child doesn’t have a photo or even one the right size, the book can look like it is missing something. This new design looks great even if the photo isn’t there.

When my son was about 4 he was amazed at the fact that one of his friends Moms could grow a baby in her tummy! He was even more amazed when he found out she “grew” two at once. I loved that conversation with him. He thought MaryAnn was superhuman or something! Ironically, one of those twins ended up being his assigned buddy in elementary school. He was to show the new Kindergartner around the school. He always acted somewhat protective of the little guy.

He didn’t explain it or express it but I believe at that time he thought people got babies by adopting them. He hadn’t really thought about where they got started before that.

When my husband and I first looked into adoption, we knew so little. We both actually thought for a short while that adoptive kids were not told they were adopted! We learned of course that you tell an adoptive child their story just like a child born biologically to them. A family would tell a child the story of coming home from the hospital or a story of Mom and Dad racing to the hospital before they were born.

We were telling our daughter her story long before she could understand what we meant. We would tell her about the snow storm that was going on the morning we were to bring her home. We were so nervous waiting for the phone call that we should come over to the agency. When we finally met her, she had such an expressive face. We always tease her about the “you two don’t know what you are doing, do you?” look she gave us. She was so right!

As she was growing up, she thought adoption was a very common thing. When she was about 3 years old, she would ask friends and relatives that were expecting, “Are you planning on keeping or placing the baby?” She always seemed surprised when she found out friends that were not adopted. Not sad, just puzzled.

The other day I read an article written by a Foster Mom. In fact I only got as far as the introduction. She started off explaining how it was so easy for her husband to answer the question, “What do you do?” at any social function. She is always lost for words because she is a Foster Mom. Why in the world would this woman be embarrassed by being a Foster Mom! I am always amazed by the amount of selflessness and kindness Foster parents have. They have an amazing amount of energy and drive. I have never been a foster mom myself. I don’t think I have the courage. Why would this woman ever be embarrassed to tell what she does?? I suppose I should go back and read her entire article. She just lost me after that comment.