Karma

Tonight we decided to start our July 4th holiday out the good ole American way - with baseball! After a stopping to eat pizza for dinner we headed to a baseball game. Isabella just loves going and is constantly asking if she can "go to a ball game". Of course, before she actually made it to sitting down and watching the game, she had to stop by the playground. As my title of this blog may be a little confusing, I have to tell you about something that happened while we were there. To begin with, when we got to the ticket booth (almost half way through the game) the guy told us they were doing some kind of "chinese fireworks" --- why they called it that, I'm not sure --- anyway, so as we are sitting on the grass we notice alot of people with these big balloons and of course Isabella wanted one. Then we saw a guy with a bag full of them over to our left giving them out. So, Kenny as well as the guy next to us went over to get one. Kenny came back empty handed, but guy next to us came back with two -- yeah, you were only supposed to be getting one. Isabella is still asking for a balloon as this guy blows his balloon up and his wife sticks the other in her pocket. I mean, come on folks, its a balloon - yes, it is big and it makes some loud squeaky sound when the air is let out - but its a BALLOON and your in your 30's!! I was a little frustrated thinking it was bad enough to get 2 when you were only allowed one, but then to knowingly hear our little 2 1/2 year old sweetly saying she wanted a balloon - "pweas", well that's plain rude. Next this same guy kept turning around and looking at me and Amelia then he would look over at Kenny and Isabella. Now, I'm used to the "looks" that we as a transracial family get, but his look was different. Can't explain it, you would have had to seen it. No exaggeration, he did this atleast 10 times, at least! Then sometimes he leaned over and whispered something to his wife. (I realize I have no idea what he was saying or thinking, normally I'm not so quick to judge, but normally people aren't so obvious.) Although I really had no desire to say anything rude to him, I really just wanted to say - "yes, she is black, yes we are white - we haven't changed from the last time you looked at us". With some "looks", I realize some people just aren't sure whether to ask if she's adopted because they are afraid they may offend me, or there are some who don't exactly understand why people would adopt transracially, and there are those that Kim, (the lady who did our homestudy/post placement) and I laughed about that are looking at me in judgment thinking my girls have "different fathers" not realizing they have different birthparents in general. :) But it really doesn't bother me what people think, honestly it doesn't, not in this. If it is just a matter of skin color, I can't help what they think, I just have to pray that God will open their eyes. Now when they say things, I have to figure out how to respond correctly -- and when my girls get older and start noticing looks or getting comments, then I'm sure it will affect me more. Anyway, all that to say this couple were extremely rude in several ways. NOW - for where there "Karma" came in - #1:My adorable precious "home body" Amelia -- Amelia loves to be at home in her bed or on the floor with her toys, when we are out and she gets tired, she gets really cranky and even holding her doesn't work - she just has to cry for a few minutes until she finally realizes we aren't going to put her in her bed and she just gives up and sleeps. So she got in one of these moods--- cry, cry, try the passy, nope, cry a little louder, try rocking the car seat, nope, cry a little louder, take her out and hold her, nope...... well, I could see this same couple keep turning around and looking at her and getting frustrated that she was crying. HELLO PEOPLE, we are at a very noisy ball game and you, like us, are sitting in the cheapest of the cheap seats - the grass. This is normally the point that I would take Amelia and go walk her around somewhere that she wouldn't bother people, but as Kenny turned around and asked me if she was ok - I with almost a twinkle in my eye, smiled and said, "She'll be fine." I know this is terrible of me, but yes I was kind of glad that my cranky little baby was bothering them. Not to worry, this soon ended and no, I didn't pinch her to try and get her to cry some more. :) #2: A few minutes later a little boy down from us rolled his little souvenir ball and knocked over their drink. I realize once again that it is probably very wrong for me to be happy about this, but I have to say that in some crazy way I felt justified -- I don't actually believe in "Karma", but if I did, this would be a little bit of that coming back to bite them. Ok - so its a little juvenille and silly, but every now and then in the midst of this you have to have a lighthearted outlook so that you don't start letting things fester and bother you.