Four Feet More

We went to Northern California FRUA's Winterfest this weekend, and it was a lot of fun. Most of the NorCal FRUA groups meet in areas too far away from our home, so we have never really gotten together with any other members before.

When I first walked into the room, I began looking at all the kids around us, playfully interacting with their families and each other, and I got a little choked up. It was amazing to see so many kids who had been adopted from Eastern European orphanages, just like ours.

When I told Vika and Eamon that we were going to a place where there would be a lot of other kids adopted from Russia, they both looked at me with expressions full of joyful wonder. In fact, within minutes, Vika had already made a new "boyfriend" at the coloring table. She works fast, that girl! After finishing her artwork, she came running up to me and said, "Mama! My boyfriend over there is from Russia too!" There was so much excitement in her eyes, that I realized how she must feel different from her peers at school, and was happy about connecting with someone from a similar background.

The highlight of the festival was the Russian dancers who taught the kids how to do a few steps. Vika wanted to go up with the other kids right away, but Eamon was bit more hesitant. However, once the kids started dancing, he squirmed off my lap and bounded on-stage to join them. A little later, this man sat next to me to watch the dancing. He soon leaned over as said, "That little boy's parents shamed him into going on-stage. He stood there, surrounded by all those girls and looked like he was going to throw up!" Well, since Eamon was the only little boy on-stage, I figured the man was talking about him. He confirmed my assumption when he said, "See that little boy in the yellow shirt?" I cheerfully responded, "That's my son! He wanted to go up there." The guy grumbled something else under his breath, and then moved off to another seat. What a putz! Don't you just love it when a complete stranger presumes to know your motivations as a parent or what your child is feeling? I think the fact that Eamon kept running gleefully off-stage to give Jeff and I a happy hug after learning each new dance step, and then just as quickly ran back on-stage to make sure he didn't miss the next bit showed that there was no shame involved. Plus, Eamon made a new friend in the male dance instructor, Misha (whose legs were the size of tree trunks!). He chatted to him quite a bit, in his animated little way, and one of the other moms came up to me and said how "charismatic" Eamon was. :) I hope he keeps that trait.

Here are some pictures from the day.

Eamon and Misha


Misha lifting Vika