Unexpected Story

One day last week, I was driving home from softball practice a friend's house church I can't remember where with Shaling in the back seat. As a I turned a corner, I saw a rabbit hopping across the road. Thinking Shaling would like to see a cute little fluffy bunny, I said, "Look, Shaling, a rabbit." We then had a mostly one-sided conversation that went like this:

"Yeah! Rabbit!"

"Mom, rabbit fast."

"Yes, the rabbit is fast."

"Really, really fast."

"Yes."

"Turtle slow."

At this point, I smiled as I realized that she must know the popular children's story. We missed out on the time of her childhood when we would have held her on our laps and read to her the most often. I know there will be times in her life that she'll hear someone reference a well-known fairy tale, but she won't be familiar with it. It is one of the numerous things I knew we were sacrificing when we decided to adopt an older child. I don't regret it for a minute nanosecond.

"Yes, turtle slow."

"Turtle win."

"Yes, the turtle wins."

"Rabbit sleeping."

I giggled and said, "Yes, the rabbit was sleeping. Very good, Shaling."

Now, if you've ever learned a foreign language, think about how well you'd mastered that language 4 1/2 months into your learning. Would you have been able to so effectively convey a story in that language that you'd read in English?

I know her grammar wasn't ideal, but she knew the words rabbit, turtle, win, sleeping, fast, slow...quite a variety...and didn't have to use any reference books. AND, to be honest, from reviewing her tests, she probably would be able to spell several of them correctly.

Yes, I'm bragging, but mostly I'm just pointing out that often Shaling (like countless other children adopted at an older age) does something that may seem simple on the surface, but upon review is actually quite impressive.