J., E. and I had 'The Conversation' a while ago. The one about where babies come from. J. had been asking questions on and off over the past couple of months about bio-moms, adoptive moms, babies, breast-feeding, etc. so I kind of knew it was coming. Adding to their understanding, this summer we saw Ice-Age II. In the movie a baby wooly mammoth is born (see September 13th post). You don't see the birth, but one minute the mother mammoth is in labour, the camera pans away and the next minute she has a crying baby beside her. After much discussion the kiddies decided that the baby must of come out of the mother's trunk. So, we're sitting at the table having lunch and the kids start talking about where babies come from. I can see J's wheels just a-turning and finally he says,
'Mom, if babies come out of an elephant's trunk where do people babies come from? Womens don't have any trunk.'
O.k., what do I do now? I don't want to lie to him or make something up because I know this is going to come up again and again. It's also important for them to understand where babies really do come from so that they will have a better grasp of their adoption history. So, I suck it up and tell them the cold, hard truth...
'They come out of their bio-mama's virgina.' I say cringingly.
There is a split second pause as they process this information (and, I'm assuming from their reactions, get some kind of visual of the situation) and then E. gags and yells 'Oh SICK!' as J. breaks out in uproarous laughter. E. then informs me that there is no way (in hell) that she is ever having any babies.
Now, a month or so later, they both seem to accept the situation (although E. does not appear to be changing her mind). I've even heard them discussing who's virgina who has come out of (yes, this is very creepy, but it is the reality). They seem to find the G.G. (great-grandma) and Lao-Lao (grandma) connection the funniest with the Mamie and Papa connection running a close second.
