I'm a California city-girl living in a Midwestern town of 1,042. It's a small life, but one filled with love and purpose.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
A Discussion
Let us have a discussion, in which I present a topic and you all comment with opinions, insights, and factual tidbits. Ready...
Bringing Peter and Reuben with us to Korea when we go this summer to adopt Jae-min.
I thought we had already decided that we were going to bring them, but now that the time is really upon us, we are thinking more about it.
Pro: Introduction to international travel for the boys.
Wait, they have both already traveled overseas. Which brings us to our first con...
Con: They won't remember much of the trip because they are so young (8 and 4).
Con: It is going to be so much more expensive to bring them. Especially if we bring another adult with us, as our social worker has suggested, to help with all the boys. Two hotel rooms, two taxis, 3 additional plane tickets...
Pro: Reuben will get to return to and experience his birth country and meet his foster family again. Peter will get to experience and understand Korean culture and more of the adoption process. He will also have his world enlarged and get to be a minority. Everyone should experience being a minority.
Con: If we bring them, Paul and I miss out on one last hoo-ha before we are FIVE. We love to travel together. Without the kids. Carefree and easy.
Pro: Instilling in the boys that traveling to Korea and other countries is normal, it's what we do. Learning about and exploring other countries is cool. God loves everyone. Even when they are different from us. This would be excellent prep for moving to T.
But just thinking about that money part, especially if they are too young to appreciate it... ugh.
What do you think? Would you bring your kids?
I think we have made our decision. But I want to hear your thoughts too. What if you totally sway us the other way with a fabulous insight we hadn't considered?
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3 comments:
I think you should take the. It will be more work and more money, but you may regret if later if you don't bring them. All your pros are long lasting ones! Your cons are more temporary. I'm certainly not trying to downplay the fact that it will cost more to take them, but the experience itself will likely be priceless. I think it would be awesome for Reuben to experience his birth country and such a blessing to be able to meet his foster family. They would likely be overjoyed to see him again! Even if he doesn't completely remember it, having pictures of him in Korea as a 4 year old would likely be something he would treasure. I say go for it!
And by "take the" I mean "take them." :-) By the way, have you settled on a name for Jae-min? Inquiring minds want to know!
I couldn't agree more with the Walker Family post! What a wonderful experience for the boys. Jason remembers picking up Eric and meeting the foster family. I realize our cost was nothing like you will be paying, however.......take them!
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