EACH FRIDAY I HIGHLIGHT OLD FAVORITES FROM MY PREVIOUS BLOG, “FROM THE TOP OF THE STAIRS.” I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE RE-RUNS AS MUCH AS I DO…
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“NEW FAMILY MEMBER”
Savannah (11) has been going through that phase for several years where she constantly asks why she can’t have a baby sister (emphasis on the sister part – I guess she thinks we have more than enough testosterone in the house). I have kindly explained to her again and again that MAMA’S ON THE HOME STRETCH!!! I’m no longer medically able to have children, what with getting my tubes tied and then that little thing called a hysterectomy a few years later, just for good measure.
She’s finally gotten the fact that I, physically, am not going to have a baby just so she’ll have a plaything whose hair she can fiddle with when the feeling hits. So now she’s moved on to adoption, especially since some friends at church have adopted recently. I can count on at least one pleading-for-adoption conversation a week and, failing that, discussions about the children she’s going to adopt when she gets married (which I think is great! I’m sure by the time she’s 43, when she is allowed to begin dating, she’ll be mature enough to make that commitment).
We’ve even had conversations about fantasy children that I might adopt.
HER: “So if you HAD to adopt, what would you get?
ME: “I don’t have to, so there’s no point in talking about it.” HER: “But say you did…” ME: “I don’t, so it’s not going to happen.”
(Repeat conversation 233 times)
HER: “What if we became filthy rich, could we at least adopt a horse?” ME: “What? NO!!! How’d we move to horses?!”
Lately though, Tom and I have been talking about a new addition to our household. We’ve talked, looked over the budget, debated, listed the pros and cons, talked about whether we could love her as much as the others, even if she was different.
This is not a decision to make lightly, or on a whim, so we’ve just been discussing it and seeing what happens. We hadn’t even really talked about specifics – what characteristics or nationality we were hoping for.
Earlier this week, however, he did the unexpected and brought her home, paperwork already filled out: fully and finally a member of our family.
Isn’t she beautiful?!!! 🙂
She’s the lone Nissan in a family full of Chevy’s and GMC’s, but I know with a little love and tenderness, she’s going to fit in just fine…
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Hard to believe it’s been almost three years now, but I still love her as much as the first time I laid eyes on her! BONUS: Unlike certain children I know, she doesn’t talk back, drive off on her own when she’s not supposed to, or become embarrassed to be seen with me in front of the other cars in the parking lot 😉
living life on the back roads 
That made me laugh out loud!
Ha! The perfect member of the family. Well played!
Haha! I chuckled through so much of this! “Mama’s on the home stretch,” the devolution from sisters to horses…
Great read. 🙂 Though now I want to add to our family…new car sound like about all I could handle.
THis post was a lot of fun! I remember the one about your daughter taking the car…Made the end all the more pertinent.
Awesome ending to a great story!
Thanks for your thoughts. It’s helped me a lot.
That was epic, been laughing like crazy…gotta love kids, if I can’t have a sister, a horse would do. The only logical step.