Dogs and daughters, but not necessarily in that order

Since I had a little time tonight, I decided to give our two dogs a test I had seen to determine if they are trainable. You are supposed to use a favorite toy and place it under one of two buckets and see if the dog can still find it.

I used Ollie's favorite, his kong, and put it under just a piece of cardboard.

To Ollie it had completely disappeared!

Grace quit playing the piano and got down on all fours and tried to show him how to find the toy.

He looked at me, the cardboard, and then at Grace. I just realized as I was typing this how much Grace was doing what Jana would have!

Ollie finally did get the idea, somewhat, but don't think he will ever be tops in his class. He found it only after he had searched the entire house! And came back only because Grace was urging him and showing him what to do!

Nina on the other hand just stood by watching.
I'm not sure if she was just thinking how dumb Ollie is or didn't even have a clue what we were trying to do!

My daughters

In the last week, I have had a couple of people make comments about my choice to adopt. These were not the kind of remarks that make you feel good, rather the kind that stun you.

One told me basically that I had messed up because I would have to work the rest of my life because of my decision to adopt.

The other commented on how I had "rescued" my daughters.

There was also a column in the paper yesterday about "stealing" children from other countries in the name of adoption.

All of these make me pause and think.

We have been back to our church the last couple of Sundays and I realize just how much Annabel has changed in the months since Chinese school changed our schedule.

Which comes back to why I adopted, especially from China.

If you have read from the beginning you know I had brain surgery when I was 23 and found to have a giant aneurysm on my brain. OK, so that made it VERY RISKY to have kids, but as much as anything, I have yet to find THE MAN I want to marry. But when Jana brought home Darcey, I had never seen a child who affected me so much.

Up until then the possibility of having children didn't really exist in my mind. But when I learned there were children who needed a mother and I realized I could be that mother and that I needed kids, it seemed so reasonable. I mean it made so much sense.

So I did not do it so I could "rescue" children, or be a martyr and work all my life to afford college, or "steal" someone's children, I did it so we could be together, to be a family.

I don't know if some children are "stolen". The author of the column did not quote sources. She insisted that the "orphanages" that are set up for Westerners to see are just temporary housing not much more than a sale barn for an auction (my words).

My point, if I actually have one, is that with my daughters, the choice now is not just to survive, but to thrive. I have no doubt that either daughter would have survived in China, as they are very strong spirited children. But as my daughters they have the opportunity to thrive. And I do as well.

Tonight I taught Annabel how to wrap a Christmas gift. And I taught Grace how to tie a bow on a package. I thought I was so tired that I could only drop, but knew I needed to teach them these basic skills. To help them thrive. Not that they are required to know these skills to thrive, but they do come in handy!