"Adopting" Skippito

Last summer, Kohl’s had a large selection of Skippy Jon Jones items available through their inhouse charity fund. Yikealo is a big fan of the Skippy Jon Jones books by Judy Schachner, so when he saw that the stuffed animal Skippy was only $5, he immediately wanted to spend some of his money on it. Skippy (or Skippito, as Y calls him) has been close by Y’s side ever since. For those who don't know, Skippy Jon Jones is a Siamese cat who is constantly pretending to be a chihuahua and creating all sorts of disasters in his room. What better companion for a wildly imaginative boy who loves dressing up and making messes? Skippy has traveled with us, he sleeps with Yikealo every night, and he sometimes shows up to do school with us. He's been a superhero sidekick, a scary bad guy who gets nabbed by the police, and apparently he's been a patient as well, considering that I recently found this "prescription" lying about the house!

Last week, Y wrote in his journal one morning, “When I gro up I will be an inventr. I will bild spaseships and cars and a holl bunch mor things. I will macke toys too. I wundr if God will wunt me to udopt kids.” That same day we drove by Kohls on our way home from work. Y pointed excitedly out of the window and said, “Hey! That’s where I adopted Skippito! I guess God already DID tell me to adopt a kid!”

After work yesterday, I mentioned to the boys that we were going across the street to buy some presents for a bridal shower. Yikealo wanted to know, “Are we going to Kohl’s, where I adopted Skippito?” When I said that we were, he added in a wistful voice, “If ONLY I had brought Skippito with me today. I bet he would LOVE to see his birth-country!”

Today, after conferring quite seriously for awhile with Skippy, he wrote this in his journal, "You may think I am a baby and you may think this is a sily topik. But I am going to rite abut one of my friends Scupeto. He is a chiwowo. I adopted him from Kol's. I sinugall him evry night and shar my dogy blanket with him every night. He felt happy glad and safe but best of all speshol. I am glad Scupeto was not scared when I adpted him. I love him with all my hort." He even drew a little heart in place of the o in both "love" and "hort." :-)

I've read that it's not uncommon for adopted children to use inanimate objects such as dolls or stuffed animals to "give voice" to their feelings about what has happened to them. I don't know if that's what's going on here, as Y has always talked openly with us. If it is, though, I'm glad that at this point in his life, those feelings appear to be mostly positive! We love this kiddo with all our "horts" too!