Prayerfully, our new children will be arriving soon! Though they are eager to move to California and “see the ocean”, we know that reality will set it and moving so many states away will be difficult.

My biological son has already gone through something similar. When we made the decision to adopt, it became clear that adopting siblings would mean a move for our family. Though my son really wanted sibs, he really did not want to move. He made that supreme sacrifice because of his love for them, but clearly it was extremely hard for him.

One thing we did to help with our son’s transition was to go to a store where you could make your own stuffed animal. You got to pick out the fur, the sound inside (if any), the clothing and everything. Then you got to put the stuffing inside along with the heart. I told my son that if we could put all of the love we felt for our old house into this new animal, then whenever he missed it or got really, really sad, he could give this new animal (named after the street we lived on) a lot of love and hugs. This really seemed to help him.

In the days after we got the doll, my son was able to articulate how he would use this situation to help his new brother and sister manage the transition. He felt that because he had been through the loss of a home he loved, he might be in a better position to empathize with them, and I think he’s onto something!

We’re going to take the kids to this store when they get here, so that they can pick out some animals to love as they make the transition. Hopefully, it will do for them what it has done for my son!