"What's it like having adopted kids?" Is a question I have actually been asked. While I'm never sure what the best response is to this kind of a question, the answer - in my opinion - is this: "Having adopted kids is pretty much like having biological kids."

Try as we might, I think that it's hard to imagine our life with kids - before they join the family. Dooce - a blog I read off and on - put an interesting spin on explaining life with children: Friday: "For those of you who do not have kids and have ever wondered what life would be like, just go turn on a blender and stick your... more

As your child grows, and continues to learn about his or her unique history, it is inevitable that questions will come up - even when you least expect it. And, as a Jewish adopted child, your kid will have even more questions on the topic than other adopted kids who don't have the religion factor to deal with.

Get ready for questions like these: Was I always Jewish? How did I get to be Jewish? Is my birth mother Jewish? Is she upset that I'm Jewish and she's not? Why don't I look Jewish like the other kids in my school? How do I know if G-d want me to be Jewish? What if I don't want to be Jewish anymore? Can we have a Christmas tree like my birth siblings?

Some kids are more... more

The other day I shared with you Anna's story - a simplified but true version that I am easily able to tell her at bed time. I wanted to share a comment I received and give a follow-up:

Rakefet writes:

... I love the story, but maybe you could add where Anna was and what she was doing from the time she was born until you found her. After all, every person's story whether or not they were adopted, starts when they were born.

First of all excellent comment. I guess I didn't include the part that... more

Anna is four - or as she will put it, "almost four and a half," which I seem to recall makes a difference at that age. She is our eldest, and so we are of course making all our mistakes with her and sort of learning as we go.

This past Shabbat, we had lunch with friends of ours who have a boy about Anna's age. They had gone off to play for a bit and returned when they smelled dessert - a trait I believe all children are born with.

When the two of them came back, the boy started talking to me about skin color. He said, "it's not healthy to have dark skin." I suggested that no, in fact many people are born with dark skin and many people are born with light skin. We - this boy... more

I think that there are points in one's life where you want to fit in - dress the same, talk the same, look the same and act the same as everyone else. At other times in your life, you may choose to stand out - kids often reach this point in the early teenage years or when they go to college - trying to find out who they are.

It is my belief that children who are adopted may be forced to make these decisions a bit earlier on, or at least are more conscious of the fact that they are making those decisions at all. I always thought that I'd be the parent that wouldn't give into requests from my child trying to be like the other kids in her class (example: Sara has Barbie shoes - I want... more