"It's so cute!"

After awhile, you forget that your family looks different. It takes you a second to remember why people are looking, sometimes staring. Most just smile and walk on. Sometimes we hear little comments as we walk by, and that is fine. My three are young enough that they don't realize people are talking about our family. Actually, they didn't realize this until yesterday.

We went up to the mountains, along with the rest of the East coast, and stopped to walk around an "old time" village.

"Oh my gosh. It's so cute!"

What? What I am missing? What's so cute? Let me get my camera! Oh you are talking about my daughter, not an "it". Sorry.

"Oh wow! One of my co-workers just came back with one too!"

"One" too. You mean their daughter.

The conversation continued, and for awhile, it was as though we were not there. "Oh look at her! You can tell she is attaching! Oh she is so cute. Now I could do it if I knew I could get one that cute!"

I know people mean well. Most are so nice and just curious about the whole process. It is still a mystery to many that you can take a "stranger" and make them a part of your family. Your son or daughter. A brother or sister. I enjoy showing people that "it works".

What is hard is when people ohh and ahh and forget the other children who are standing around you. "She is so cute!" On and on. Meanwhile my middle child is jumping up and down, trying to show the stranger his new trick. "That's neat! Now tell me how did you get started in this . . . " An after thought which I set out to fix as soon as we walk away. I don't ever want one child to feel "less important" than another.

I would encourage you to think about how you are going to react to situations such as these. Strangers mean well, and we enjoy talking to people about our experience. Just be prepared and remember that the "cute thing" may just be your child!