End of Day Two
The Cast of Characters:
There is of course, us, the blissfully ignorant adoptive parents, the Eckstoms’ adopting their second Thai child. They are getting a little boy. Then there are the Paulsons, they are from Norway and adopting their third Thai child, they too are getting a little boy and they have brought their other two children. A boy around 8-9 years old and a girl who looks maybe 10-12. It’s hard to tell with Asian kids. The soon to be adopted children are all are under two years old except for Riley who is a few days shy of 4 years old. This was apparent when after viewing a video shown by Mo one of the young social workers about HSF, they brought the children into the hotel meeting room. Instantly the tension went up in the room as parents and children began looking at one another. Trying to see what was going to happen. Trying to see if they would be comfortable around these strange and quite large white people! Besides the three families, there are three social workers. Mo, and two who were quite nice but we never did get their names.
When the children arrived, the two young boys went to work having a great time. They played soccer, played with the blocks and various other toys the social workers brought with them. Riley though being 4 and somewhat suspicious of what was happening, took some time to warm up. It took 30 minutes of blowing bubbles and using three bottles of bubbles to get her past the wary stage. After that, she batted a balloon for another 20 minutes that Lo blew up and tied for her, after that, it was the car that she pushed around with us all the while maintaining her distance from me. For some reason, she is quite reserved and nervous around me. She let me hold her hand when she first came in but quickly thought better of it and never once touched me again or let me get close. She would play bat the balloon with me but that was it.
Around 11:30 AM we went across the street to Thai House Two for lunch. Wow, there were giant prawns in a real dirty tank, mirrors on every wall except the outside wall that was floor to ceiling dirty windows. Then again, all windows in Bangkok are dirty. Ok, all flat surfaces in Bangkok are dirty! So anyway, we ordered fried rice with chicken. Really it was the only thing on the menu that we recognized! They served it with soy sauce that at first glance seemed pretty benign but oh my god…..it was fire hot! I used two bowls!
At lunch, Riley started to warm up to me. I think it was because I was video taping the whole thing and I turned the screen around so she could see herself being videoed and suddenly she was a star! The rest of the time, she spent waving and blowing kisses to herself and giggling like the little girl she is!
After lunch, we came back to the hotel room with the social worker and Riley. We spent an hour with her. She tried on the clothes we brought with us. We discovered that she is a girly girl. The clothes made her smile and laugh and she made several trips to the mirror to admire herself. The shoes sent her into hysteria. On they went and she spent 15 minutes showing them off to us. I have video of her nearly twisting her leg off to get her feet high enough into the air for us to see! After this, we went to visit her home. It was outside of Bangkok about an hour. She lives in a two story home that is unlike anything we have ever been in. No glass windows, no chairs, (we sat on the floor, I nearly died) exposed corrugated tin ceiling, VERY steep stairs, no indoor plumbing that I could see, no flushing toilet, two dogs, a bird, no lawn to play on and of all things, a computer. We spent an hour sitting on the floor, talking with the foster mom, her sister, several of Riley’s cousins and two social workers. I should say, everyone else talked, we listened and occasionally asked questions that they answered in depth with much talking and laughter. Riley spent the time wiggling around on the cousins and drinking orange soda.
Soon we had to leave and we all gathered around for a group photo. It was sad to leave but Riley was wore out. It had been a big day for her and she missed her nap.
So after all the excitement, travel and meeting with the family, we came back to the hotel. We spent the rest of the afternoon wondering what in the world we were doing here? The emotional roller coaster between excitement and terror had been heating up over the last few weeks and the toll was beginning to show. I felt sick to my stomach, Lo was almost in tears and neither of us felt we were up to the task ahead. We have taken so many risks in the last few years, some of them quite large but nothing compares to this. It has the potential and most certainly will test everything we have as we try to be good parents. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear that she will turn out to be the anti Christ or at least his right hand woman! Ok so that last one is a little melodramatic. You get the picture though. Thousands of previously unknown emotions have really wrung us out but we will survive and prosper. I know that God has a plan for us in this and we are faithfully following His direction to live one day at a time and see His hand on each day.
Tomorrow is another big day. We go shopping! I am terrified that she will love it. Just what I need, another clothes and shoe addict!
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