McDonalds is my kind of place....

On Veterans' Day, Adam and I journeyed to Connecticut to meet some friends at the Norwalk Aquarium. Through the wonders of the blogging and online adoption world, I reconnected with an old friend from high school who I hadn't seen in 30 years. She adopted three beautiful girls from China as a single mom. We had a reunion lunch early in the summer with a 3rd married high school friend who also adopted internationally (Chile and Mexico).

This trip was just the single moms . The time at the Aquarium was....well....filled with Adam's oh so very terrible two-ness. Lots of flinging himself dramatically on the floor and ripping his shoes off and throwing them. After waving the white flag of surrender on the Aquarium, we headed to McDonalds for lunch. It was one of those suburban McDonalds with the huge playgrounds. which was a first for us.

After we ate, Marie's lovely daughters, Olivia and Sophia (12 and 6) took Adam outside to the playground. And he went! And played with them BY HIMSELF for about an hour and a half. Do you realize how big this is? I didn't have to get up and go with him -- for the very first time! Which meant I got to sit and have an adult conversation uninterrupted for the first time in a long time. (Of course, I eventually had to crawl around in that claustrophobic maze of tunnels and ride down the slide with Adam....)

I'm lucky to have a lot of friends who have been very supportive of me and my adoption of Adam. Some adoptive parents as well, married friends with children, single friends without -- and I appreciate all of them more than I can say. But I didn't know how badly I needed to talk to another SINGLE adoptive mother. It was such a relief and such a help.

And if we have any doubt what I am most grateful for this thanksgiving, here he is:

Happy Thanksgiving!