Catalog Shopping

In spring of 2005 I thought I wanted to adopt a little girl from China. I did TONS of research and found a very reputable and legitimate agency here in the US that specialized in Chinese adoptions and would facilitate such an adventure from the first set of paperwork all the way to bringing her home.

I did some of the basic beginning paperwork and paid some beginning fees to get the process going. Then I got an official letter telling me that China had shut down single parent adoptions but the agency said they would send me a letter when they resumed again. No harm, no foul.

In the meantime I'm on the agency's mailing list. Not a big deal because they sent a very minimal amount of junk stuff. At Christmas they sent a calendar of pictures of all the little girls who were adopted the previous year, dressed to match each month.

Now Mac knew what I was doing. He was 12 years old then. Old enough to comprehend the concept of what I was doing but not quite old enough to have complete understanding of the process and the details of how it all worked. So Mac's looking through the calendar one day and then comes over to me, pointing to one of the little girls.

Mac: "I want that one."
Me: "Wha??????"
Mac: "I want that one", he said again, pointing again to the same picture.
Me: "What in the world are you talking about?"
Mac: Still pointing, "When you get my sister I want this one."
Me: "Mac, that little girl's already been adopted."
Mac: throwing the calendar across the room, "Why send a stupid catalog of sisters if all the good ones are already taken?!?"

Maybe it's better I only have one child...

Maggie