A little over a week in and I can still say we’ve had pretty smooth sailing. As I listened to the 5 kids laugh until they cried last night in the back of the van, I realized how blessed we are to have kids with such great senses of humor. I’m going to go out on a limb and say humor may be one of the main reasons we’ve done so well with Kayla and John thus far.
Our week in Ethiopia before we came home was riddled (pun intended) with great humor. Sometimes it was a race up the four flights of steps to our room at the top of the guest house while their breathless giggles echoed off the marble. Then there was the night at the traditional restaurant…you had to be there. At the Embassy, it was a typo.
All these moments created a repetoire of inside jokes–connections across a wide language barrier–that was the beginning of a trust relationship. Now, when we are serious (albeit as seldom as we have to be), they take us seriously.
Don’t get me wrong, we still have a long road ahead of us and there are many other components to bonding, but don’t underestimate the humor when your bringing kids into your home.
As a sidenote: We didn’t have these laughing moments in Ty’s first days with us (maybe even first year). ‘Playful engagement’ wasn’t in our vocabulary nor was ‘trust-based parenting.’ We’re still recovering and trying to find common ground with him. Hindsight is 20/20.