Since today is National Adoption Day, we wanted to share how one American Adoptions family celebrates adoption during the month of November!
Adoptive Mom Kelly wrote to use to share what National Adoption Month means to her family and how they celebrate each year. Kelly and her husband Jeff really make a to-do of celebrating their son William’s adoption and can’t wait to welcome another little one through adoption soon!
“Our son William’s adoption was finalized on November 19, 2010, which in that year was National Adoption Day. So National Adoption Day and National Adoption Month have an extra special place in our hearts.
From the early stages of beginning the adoption process, we knew we wanted to be open and honest about William’s adoption. Knowing what we wanted to do was the easy part. How to do it was much more difficult. Adoption is freely discussed in our home, and we frequently read books about adoption; however we never knew if it was enough or if our son really understood. We’ve found that celebrating National Adoption Month is an easy and fun way to discuss and learn about adoption.
Ever year for William’s Adoption Day, we have family pictures taken and these pictures are added to his adoption scrapbook. The scrapbook is a fun way to tell his adoption story. Plus, it makes sure we stay current on family photos.
We try to get our extended family involved as well. After all, adoption has affected all of our lives and has given us definite reason to celebrate. In the past we have done an Adoption Day party. Last year, we made “A Forever Family Tree.” I have drawn a tree on a piece of scrapbook paper, and each member of our family added their thumbprint as a leaf on our family tree. We hung the family tree in William’s room after it was completed.
We hope to get William’s school involved as well. On William’s actual Adoption Day, we sent a book about adoption for story time and some heart cookies for snack time. This allowed William to share his special day with his friends at school.
While we use National Adoption Day as a time to celebrate one of the most important days of our lives, we also take a moment to reflect and be thankful for William’s birth mother. After all, without her our dreams may never have come true!”
-Jeff, Kelly and William
From the American Adoptions family to yours, we wish you a happy National Adoption Day!
