Out of the mouth of 8 year old little girls...
Brianna: "Mrs. Jones, where are her REAL parents?"
Me: "I am her real mommy."
Brianna: "But she's an orphan. Where is her REAL mom and dad? Did they sell her to you or did they die?"
Me: "We don't know what happened to her family. All we know is that they loved her enough to send her to the orphanage so her mommy and daddy could find her and bring her home to America. And so here she is!"
TAG TEAM MOMENT!
Jessica: "Mrs. Jones, My mom says you bought her. How much did she cost? Was she really expensive?"
Me: "Well, to me she is priceless. As for the money, we gave a donation to her orphanage so they could buy the other children food, clothing and medicine. So we didn't buy her, honey."
I am so thankful that I was thinking on my feet enough this morning to come up with answers because these really blew me away. And I am so thankful that Scarlett is still not proficient enough with the English language to understand what was being said. I did notice that she got quiet and came over to snuggle into me while the girls were tag teaming me. So maybe she understood more than I give her credit for...
SO glad I read this! You answered beautifully! We've already had the neighborhood kids ask us all kinds of questions. I'm sure we'll get more. I hope Jessica's mom didn't really say that you "bought" Scarlett. Maybe Jessica just misinterpreted how her mom explained it. (Giving the benefit of the doubt here.) Are adults really that ignorant? Well, I can answer that one.... Anyway, good job, Momma!
ReplyDeleteOh wow. You handled it way better than I would have. I would have had to tell little Jessica that I was going to take her mommy outside and have a "word" with her.
ReplyDeleteI am going to pray for the same grace he has given you!!
Wow. You handled that with so much grace!
ReplyDeleteHaving an 8 year old myself I can totally see this being a case of "parroting" something they heard their parents say or a conversation they half heard. In fact if it were me, I might just bring it up on your own terms of conversation next time you're with these girls' parents ... just so THEY "get it" too. You didn't BUY HER. ACK! That just makes me so sick.
I had to pay the hospital a lot of money when I gave birth to my biological kids too but nobody has EVER accused me of having to buy my kids from the hospital!! What a bizarre thought.
Perhaps the girls mentioned how much they would like a new little sister like Scarlett and their moms out of selfish fear pulled out the $$ issue as their blind defense? In any event, I'm glad that you are such a strong woman and were able to face this head on and nip it in the bud. Good job! And thanks for posting so others can be prepared instead of being blind-sided.
Jessica's mom is Russian and has only been here for 10 years so the difference in perception is really something. When I told her about the Asylums in Russia, she had no idea. It appears most people don't.
ReplyDeleteYou answered these questions perfectly... I may even use the "how much did she cost" answer sometime in the future. You handled the questions gracefully.
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