Our bedtime ritual is having special time for questions. My husband loves to read the kids books and does all the funny voices that I honestly don't have the strength for at the end of a long day; so when he's not around to do bedtime, I lie down with Anna and say "Do you have any questions?"

Lately she's been saying she wants to tell me jokes, but I convince her to tell me her jokes in the morning and that it's just time for questions. She often asks me to tell her the story of her adoption. I think that everyone should be able to tell their child the story of how they got here - this is Anna's story as I tell it to her.

Mommy and Daddy were little kids just like you a long time ago. Then we grew up and got married. When we decided to have a family, there was no baby growing in Mommy's tummy, so we decided to look for a baby that had already been born.

So we looked and looked and then we found you! You were about Adam's age when you came to live here and we were sooooo happy and soooo thrilled that you were going to be our daughter. Then we went to court to see the judge and he said we could adopt you. We took you to the mikvah and then you became Jewish (the rabbi gave you a lollipop - remember?) We had a big adoption party and everyone was there - uncles and aunts and cousins and your friends. And now, we are a big family and we will be a family forever.

Anna loves her story. She likes to hear it often. And I think it helps her be proud and comfortable with telling her story to others.