5 Ways Adoption Will Change Your Life (For the Better)
The journey of adoption can be difficult at times, but the end result is worth all of the work. Bringing your child home for the first time can be a surreal experience as you start to fully understand that the journey is finally over. While there are certainly always going to be a learning curve to adoption, there are plenty of things to be thankful for as well. Check out these 5 ways that adoption will change your life for the better:
1. Kids Are Fun!
Having a child in the home is one of the most comforting things in life. Children bring an entirely new idea of wonder to a home with their giggles, smiles, and non-stop interesting questions. Children make life exciting and full to the brim with their constant need for attention and guidance. It is true that there is always something going on in a home filled with a child. For many hopeful adoptive parents who don’t have any children, this can be a welcome change from years of a quiet home to a home full of sounds and laughter. Don’t get us wrong, there will be times as a parent when you have to discipline your child, but overall kids bring a joy for life that is hard to match.
2. Your Parenting Will Change
If you already have children in the home, parenting a child can seem easy. However, even the best prepared or seasoned parents will notice that they have to grow and change right along with their adopted child. You can’t parent an adopted child with a different history the exact same way you would another child. Each child is different and will need you to be flexible in your parenting style. This actually makes your life better because it will grow you as a person as well as a parent.
3. You’ll Have More Empathy
As much as we want our adopted kids to not have any lasting effects from past trauma or neglect, it is common for them to deal with issues from their past well after they are home. Comforting your child and teaching them about their new life in your home is one of the best ways to learn more about others in this world who have dealt with past hurts. Helping your child grow and break free from some of their past will help you look at the world differently and recognize that many children, not just adopted ones, deal with struggles that oftentimes go unnoticed.
4. Be an Encouragement to Others
While there may be days when you don’t want your family to be an example, there will be those in your community who always see you as “the family that adopted a child”. This can actually work to your benefit as you can show others that love knows no boundaries and that adoption is a good thing for many children. Opening up your hearts and your home to a child shows others that they too could choose adoption for their own family because you had the courage to do it as well.
5. You’ll Notice the Similarities
As an adoptive parent, you will start to notice things in your child that are the same about you and your spouse. There are things that they will say, faces they will make, or other characteristics that will be incredibly like your own. Now, not everything will be the same with an adopted child, but there are small similarities that may surprise you about the connections between you and your adopted child. This is one of the unspoken ways that adoption blends a family without there being any physical similarities. It is a comfort to an adoptive parent to see that you are much more similar to your child than you originally thought.
Adoption is a journey that has many joyous aspects along with the normal struggles. However, inviting a child into your life as your own will no doubt change you for the better as you learn to grow as a family. There may be days when the good is hard to see but be encouraged that your life, and the life of your child, will change for the better through the joy of adoption.
