"I want to go home......I don't want to go home!"

Hi Everyone,

I am not sure how to sum up the last few weeks except to say it has been anything but predictable. Work for me has been incredibly busy, but I am actually enjoying the neck breaking pace and having new products to learn. That said, it seems that my little one is going through some major attachment issues and seems to be coming out on the healthy side. Last week-end after spending a wonderful day at dance class and a birthday party, Ella started telling me about all the great things she was going to show me when we went back to China. She wanted to show me her school and her boys and girls and her beautiful bathroom. (She tends to fantasize about parts of her past which is normal for these kidos). After she finished telling me all the things we were going to do, I said it will be wonderful to meet all of her China friends, and we would have some great pictures to share with her new friends when we came home. Unfortunately, Ella had no plans of coming home and we had a bit of a rough week-end processing her new life. Fast forward to yesterday, and Ella had a birthday party at one of her friends houses. This little friend is currently taking Mandarin classes from a tutor, and the tutor actually came to the party. Since we had talked about Ella joining the tutoring lessons, it was nice to meet the teacher and see how Ella would respond. Although she didn't talk to her at first, she enjoyed the "silly" teacher and by the end of the party, Ella was writing her name in Chinese characters and talking with the teacher and saying she would like to come to classes. As we were leaving, Ella became very quiet and started to cry, and I thought we were headed for another discussion about "going back home" but instead my little one began sobbing that she never wanted to go back to China and wanted to stay with Mommy forever! We then talked about her new family and how this was forever and I would never let anyone take her away and she said "I love my family so much". I am so happy for Ella and only wished I had someone speak at length to her in Mandarin a month ago! jk. I know we have many stages of attachment to still complete but I am so thankful and happy that she is moving through her grief and headed towards understanding that it is safe to trust and love her new family. Wishing you all a wonderful Holiday week and hope you are able to spend some quality time with your families. LUV