Adoption and Citizenship
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
I remember that day like it was yesterday. After hours and hours of riding with my precious seven month old daughter, I stepped out of the plane at Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC. When my feet touched the ground she was finally in the country where she would live and learn and love. It was months later that she officially became an American citizen. Her small hands held an American flag and she waved it joyfully around. Although the significance of that moment passed her by on that day it was only a few years later when she proudly sang "I'm Glad to Be an American" at her school talent show and I could tell that her citizenship did mean a lot to her.
When I adopted my youngest daughter she became an American citizen the moment my feet touched American soil. Ah, what a day that was. We will always be grateful for her beginnings in Russia and for her life here in America.
A few days ago we stood in line at the polls for over an hour so that I could vote. Both of my girls take great interest in their country. Both were very ‘into' this election particularly the issues concerning life. They appreciate their citizenship and are counting the years until they are able to vote too.
Adoption has been a tremendous blessing for our family. I continue to learn so much from my two girls. One thing which I continue to learn is to never take for granted your citizenship. It is filled with both great privileges and also huge responsibility.
As we build strong adoptive families lets continue to teach our children the importance of being a citizen. This can be done both informally by spontaneous discussions, reading newspapers together, listening to talk shows, etc. It can also be done intentionally through exposing them to debates, political discussions, books, speakers, magazine articles, etc. These are challenging days. It's time to develop within our families an understanding of their country and its ways. Our children have a right to know. Let's teach them well!
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