Blog Buzz

Here is this month's blog buzz question.

Do you have any tips / advice / suggestions for your “Gotcha Day” for people preparing to travel to pick up their little one. . .This could include things that made your day special, an easier transition at home, etc. Tell us what worked (and what didn’t) for you.

This isn't a tip persay, just an observation from my experience. I wasn't ready for how surreal it would be. I spend the entire time in China in a fog. I would love to go back sometime. I just felt like I was so worried and consumed with Sophie that I couldn't take in anything around me. I felt like it was silly to be touring around the city when I had a 14 month to bond with. I was very aware that she was so unfamiliar with all of it that it was hard for me to embrace it. I have been thinking a lot about how to be more present during our visit to Ethiopia.

We travelled with our 2 older kids also. I loved having them with us, but it was also really hard to have them adjusting to everything as well. Seth, who will eat anything - ate nothing but watermelon. Makenzie was TERRIFIED of the drivers there. Anytime we would walk outside, she would cling to us. A very well-founded fear for the record!

Our social worker gave us a great tip before travelling. She said to resist the urge to bath your new child and change their clothes immediately. They need those very few familiar things close to them during the transition. We went as long as we could, but Sophie wet through her diaper within a few hours all over her clothes. I still smell China on the clothes she was wearing when we met here.