Janine's Project Question #3

3. Are there any traditions or celebrations that you plan to permanently integrate into your family’s practices?

We feel that we will be able to provide our child with many opportunities that she would not otherwise have if she grew up in an orphanage. At the same time, it saddens us that we will have to remove her from her native country and culture in order to do so. We feel like the least we can do is to incorporate some Chinese traditions and celebrations into our family. We plan to celebrate the main Chinese holidays (Chinese New Year, Autumn Moon Festival, etc), which we will probably do in conjunction with our local FCC (Families with Children from China) chapter. We also plan to enroll our child in Chinese language and dance classes that the FCC offers as well. Our other children will be able to join these classes as well if they so desire. We plan to take our entire family back to China one day when our daughter is old enough to understand and appreciate the experience. Maybe we could learn enough Chinese that we could communicate with some of those people important to our daughter's early months of life. We also plan to bring home some Chinese art, music and books when we visit there and use and display these items in our home.

Adoptive families also celebrate "Gotcha Day" which is the day that their baby was placed in their arms. We plan to celebrate this day by wearing traditional Chinese silk outfits, eating Chinese food, and telling our daughter the story of how she joined our family. We hope to make a video that will help her to see the place that she came from and the process by which she joined our family.

It is very possible that our daughter will just want to be an "All-American Girl" and won't be interested in her cultural heritage until perhaps later in life. That will be okay too. We want her to know that we are happy to provide her with as much contact with her native culture as she desires and will follow her lead as she grows up and is able to voice her views in the matter.