Becoming Color Aware

As you may already know, there is a lot of training and reading involved in the adoption process.  Daniel and I had to complete many hours of online training, read articles and even do homework as part of our home study assessment.  One of our take-aways from the training was the idea of being color aware instead of color blind.  When we become color aware we acknowledge that there is a difference but we do not place expectations, stereotypes and labels on people.  Becoming color aware allows us to appreciate an individual's culture, ethnicity and heritage.  I have always felt drawn to people of different ethnicity and really enjoy learning about different cultures, languages, etc. 

As we have navigated our way through the adoption process it has been such a neat experience to see our precious E develop color awareness.  No matter where we go, whether it be the playground, grocery store, mall or even Chick-fil-A our little girl is drawn to children who are of Asian descent.  She often comments on how her little sister might look like a certain individual we encounter while we are out and about.   I absolutely LOVE this.

Just this past weekend we went to Chick-Fil-A and then made a trip to IKEA.  While at CFA, E went to play in the play place.  Immediately she approached a little Asian girl and began to play with her.  Later E told me that she had asked the little girl if she was from Chi.na and told her that she was going to bring her little sister home from Chi.na.  Later that same day while we were in IKEA E spotted a doll that looked Asian and immediately asked if we could purchase it for baby sister. 

We have tried to encourage E in this area of becoming color aware by introducing books and toys that depict Asian children.  We are so looking forward to the day that our sweet Little A joins our family and finds dolls and books in her room with children who look like her.  It is our hope and prayer that Little A would know that we have not become color blind but that we are color aware and that we want to incorporate her heritage into our home. 

What fun it will be to celebrate Chinese New Year and to share in cultural celebrations that are unlike our own.  We are looking forward to creating some new family traditions that will blend both the Chinese and American cultures as we strive to help our daughters become more and more color aware.