Randomness

I was watching "Sunday Morning" on, well, Sunday morning, and caught an interview with actor/singer Kristin Chenoweth. I was vaguely aware of her, but apparently I don't watch the shows she is on. (Unless you show up on "Yo Gabba Gabba" or some other program on Noggin, I probably don't know who the heck you are.)

During the interview, the reporter mentioned that Chenoweth was adopted at birth. I thought to myself, "Oh no, here we go. There'll be some long diatribe about how devastated she is and how she feels lost and unfulfilled." That often seems to be the case when adoption is portrayed in the media, so I braced myself for it.

Instead, she mentioned only that she was curious simply to know which of her birthparents could sing. And that was about it. Regarding the parents who raised her, she said, "My parents should never be allowed to sing in public. Ever." It was pretty funny. The reporter replied that maybe her parents could sway along with the music and Chenoweth said, "Oh no, they shouldn't even sway."

This was particularly amusing to me because, as much as I love music, my singing is truly atrocious. No one in my family can carry a tune. Not even close. But, I have some hope for my daughter because her birthmother loves to sing and apparently has a lovely singing voice. I am hoping to get A involved in children's theater and I'm sure it would be a plus if she can sing.

It always does my heart good to learn about adoptees, like Kristin Chenoweth, who are confident and happy. For others, I know there is angst and pain, and I get that. I don't want to minimize or marginalize that at all. But as an adoptive mom, it soothes me (and my perpetually worried, frenetic sort of brain) to know that there are plenty of adoptees who are faring well.

In other news, the kid is apparently learning about the human body at school. Every few minutes she tells us, "Your heart is beating blood all over your body!"

Comments

Anonymous said…
I think years ago adoption was perseved differently but adoptees, the media, etc... but now it is viewed very differently. The choices you make for A and the honesty which you raise her with will come back to you in the future.

In years past more adoption records were sealed and secretive. Now that people have more options it can only be a positive thing!

You, P and A are very fortunate to have each other! :)
December 23, 2008 at 7:11 AM
Samantha said…
No angst or pain about being adopted for me. But I too know some people that are almost bothered by the fact that they are adopted and I just don't get it.

You are a good mom for worrying about it, but don't worry about it too much. You will do just fine by her.
December 23, 2008 at 3:57 PM
Mary said…
I think you know how I feel about adoption by now... but here I go again.;) My first time I even heard the word adoption I believe was when I was maybe 10 or so and I heard my 2 neighbor kids were adopted. I'm sure in just came up somehow in conversation. Being a 10 year old I thought something on the order of oh... I never knew that. But the point here is they were two great kids, I babysat them often and they were just a regular family to me. I'm sure this was back in the times where adoption was pretty much closed. Sometimes that's ok because all involved want it that way, if not then at least now it's more of a choice. The saying "adoption is a great option" is so true. While there are many reasons for a birth mom and dad to place their child for adoption they are thinking of their childs well being. The special they had on adoption last week was so heartwarming. The love the adoptee and adoptive parents had for each other was so real as of course it should be. In one way adoptive children are lucky, they know they were sought out, they are REALLY wanted unlike some who might not have been planned and I'm sad to say some parents just didn't want that much. Don't get me wrong, I know that's not the majority but it does happen! When I read your blog it doesn't take much to realize how much you guys love A. So if her parents love her so much I don't think you have anything to worry about in the future...
December 26, 2008 at 1:17 PM
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