It's nearly 6 years since we adopted DS1 and yet I still find myself groping for a good response to people's daft questions. When we visit the UK, people are generally studiously polite, avoiding any reference to the obvious colour difference (DS!1 & DS2 are black, DH & I are white) but here in the Caribbean (particularly if we visit one of the smaller islands) people don't hold back. I have lost count of the number of people who pass me in the street and say with no preamble "Is that your son?" and when I say "Yes" then respond with "For true?" Sometimes I respond to the first question with "Yes, he is my adopted son" which stops the follow up questions but usually I don't cos it's none of their business. I also sometimes get the more offensive "Where did you get him/them from?" as if they came from a shop.
My main defence mechanism is that I have become deliberately deafer as time has gone on and fail to hear most of these questions.I personally prefer to avoid being directly rude back if I can, provided the daft question isn't really really rude. But I thought maybe we could swap notes on the daftest questions and bounce around some good answers that leave us and our children feeling good.
Please or to access all these features
Please
or
to access all these features
Here are some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on adoption.
Adoption
Good answers to daft questions?
9 replies
BarbadosMama · 16/07/2008 18:19
OP posts:
Please create an account
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.