Friday, January 30, 2015

6 Great Things About Adoption

Today on my brother's birthday I am thinking about the joys of adoption.  We are siblings through adoption.  There are many reasons I think adoption is wonderful, these are just a few from my personal experience.
  1. Best Gift - All children are a gift and for me adoption is the best gift of all because this is how I got a brother. When my brother was 9 years old a bully at his school was teasing him about being adopted.  My brother's response was excellent.  He said, "My parents picked me and yours were stuck with you".
  2. Superior Gene Pool - My brother is more easy going, patient and gracious than I am. Temperament traits have a biological basis influenced by environment.  We had the same environment.
  3. Parenting Practice - I am 13 years older than my brother and gained great parenting experience caring for a baby. 
  4. Keeps Parents Young - My parents were 41when we adopted my brother.  Keeping up with him kept our parents active and fit.  My Dad learned to ski at 50 because his 9 year old son wanted to learn.  
  5. Baby of the Family - After my brother's arrival I was no longer the baby of the family.  As our parents focused on their baby I enjoyed my teen years with very little parental interference.
  6. Greatest Sibling Names - My brother and I have the same name. He is Don and I am Dawn. Yes, it is absolutely nuts and makes for a great story. Leave a Happy Birthday Greeting for Don in the comments section if you want to know how this came about.
In the birth announcement my parents placed in their local newspaper they wrote, "Announcing the arrival of our chosen son". I think this is beautiful and it says it all.  Happy Birthday Don! Your birthday was a gift to me.

For adoption resources and support click here http://www.nacac.org

Posted by at
Labels: , ,

5 comments:

  1. slidercodeJanuary 31, 2015 at 5:27 AM

    This is a very sweet Birthday gift! Have a great one, Don! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dawn Elise CarlsenJanuary 31, 2015 at 8:08 PM

      Thanks so much! The tale of the Dons & Dawn is below. It has always been fun for my brother and I to introduce each other to people.

      Delete
  2. UnknownJanuary 31, 2015 at 2:26 PM

    Happy Birthday Don!! Don't tell the others, but you are my favorite uncle. Have a good one.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dawn Elise CarlsenJanuary 31, 2015 at 8:02 PM

    My Dad was named Donald MacDonald Cleal after his Dad & great uncle. I was named Dawn after my Dad, Don. When my family adopted my brother they decided to carry on the family tradition and named him Donald MacDonald Cleal. It was confusing having 3 Dons & a Dawn in the same family and also humorous.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownFebruary 1, 2015 at 4:47 AM

    Happy belated birthday, Don! What a beautiful tribute to you! After all these years I learned something about you guys. Dawn, thanks for sharing!
    Love Barb

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)