On our Facebook page (facebook.com/adoptivefamilies), we asked readers, What was the best gift you received as a new parent after adopting your child? Here’s what you said:
“My aunt’s mother always made quilts for all the nieces and nephews when they had a baby. She passed away the year before we were blessed with our daughter. The day of our shower, my aunt presented me with a gift from her mom…a beautiful quilt. She said her mom just knew we would be parents someday. We were all in tears.” —SHERRY
“A family Christmas ornament.” —TAMMIE
[Parent to Parent: Happy Adoption Day!]
“Time to bond. Our family and friends stayed away, as we requested, without feeling hurt or putting pressure on us to meet the new addition.” —NIKLUH
“Books. Family and friends wrote messages inside their favorite childhood books, and we now have such a beautiful collection. Some we read when she was little, some we started reading when she started school, and some are early chapter books she is starting to read now!” —ALLISON
“A family portrait session.” —LINDA
“My girls were nine and 10 when they were adopted. A friend of mine got each of them their own new bedding—all new, all theirs. It was such a great welcome for them to put it in their rooms knowing it was especially for them.” —PAMELA LYNN
[How to Teach Your Children to Say “Thank You”]
“Wonderful community. Everyone I knew who had any kind of connection with adoption came to me with love, told their story, and kind of welcomed me into this amazing, supportive club.” —AMY
“A book of pictures documenting our adoption day. I love it and still look at it.” —BARB
“When our sons came into our home as foster kids, my coworkers made meals and gave us gift cards for restaurants. When their adoption was finalized a year later those same coworkers gifted us with enough money to purchase new bunk beds and mattresses!” —AUDRA
“My mom got my daughter and me matching silver bracelets with her legal adoption date inscribed on them.” —MELISSA
“A surprise baby shower. I never said anything, but I had thought I wasn’t going to have one. Our friends invited us to what we thought was a housewarming party and it turned out to be a baby shower for us. It filled my heart to know how much our friends supported us!” —CASEY
“Our daughter’s orphanage gave us a scrapbook chronicling the first two years of her life.” —KATHRYN
“Enough diapers to last us for 10 months!” —DANI
“We had three older kids placed with us with less than a week’s notice. We made an emergency run to IKEA and our truest friends risked their marriage by coming over to help us assemble the furniture—three beds, four dressers, three bookcases, and a toy box. And we were all speaking to each other when it was all done.” —JENNIFER
“Our child’s birth mother gave us her sonogram photos and a card.” —TRICIA
