Preparing for Book #2 (and some Book #1 meanderings)

September 8, 2014 by mel 2 Comments

We are working on getting Book #2 ready later on this year, and have some Squirky promo lined up during the year-end school holidays. I’m really loving how illustrator David Liew has imagined my fictional space world, it’s exactly how I pictured it – and much, much more. 

In the meantime, there’s life. Little C. fell sick soon after the launch, then I caught his bug and am currently awake at 3.30am trying not to cough and being acutely aware of my limitations. To be honest, I’ve been feeling particularly challenged in the parenting department. Being the free-spirited little boy he is, everyday is a huge creativity exercise in working out enough space and fun for discovery, but also setting up the necessary boundaries of what is acceptable and not acceptable in our home (with love). 

Besides this, I’ve also been thinking about how people have been responding to the topic of adoption with Squirky Book #1. Here’s how it’s been: 

– Received a few random e-mails from strangers asking if I could help them answer the more emotionally-gruelling questions of their home study reports. I had to tell them that the answers had to come from them, no such thing as “model answers” but what they honestly feel about the prospect of becoming adoptive parents. 

– Received a few discreet queries on behalf of “friends of friends (of friends)” who are exploring adoption but don’t know where to begin. Perhaps I’ll do a simple “getting started” post  on this soon. I also found out that a friend of a friend adopted soon after reading an FB post we did when we announced our adoption to our friends and family (we tagged a few people, and their contacts saw what we had written). 

– Received some genuinely concerned queries on the topic of disclosure. Someone told me that they were afraid that if they told their child, their child would run away from them. Someone mentioned that it was good that he did not know his cousin was adopted earlier, because if not he would have made fun of her when they were kids. Ooof. I know it’s so taxing emotionally to speak hard truths and leave things to the great unknown. I know this part of the world can be particularly ignorant/discriminatory about adoption. But to me, disclosure is the only way to go. Here’s why. 

– Received a few lovely accounts of adoption stories. I’m so thankful for this. It is comforting to know of other people who have been through similar (and yet different) journeys.