Miss Spider and we

PPS--(Pre Post Script)

See the post below--but I'm really serious...(And now SO nervous we won't get even close to 100) 

...an email wish would be awesome!!!!

now... back to the story...

Everyday after Tess and Jude get off the school bus, we have a routine of hopping on the couch and reading books together before lunch.  They quickly abandon their backpacks in the middle of the floor, race into their room, and each select a book.  Good Night Moon, is a favorite.  So is Jude's life book.  Arnie the Doughnut, The Very Clumsy Click Beetle, Guess How Much I Love You, and Runaway Bunny among others.  These are favorites that come and go as time passes.  You know how favorite books go... kiddos are perfectly happy reading the exact same book day after day after day.  Again and again and again.  Till they know each character and word by heart.  Eventually they trade their favorite for a new favorite.

Tess and Jude have never had the same favorite... till now.


These days, both babes have become obsessed with David Kirk's Little Miss Spider.
It unexpectedly appeared in our after-school read pile one day.  I remembered a little about it.  Not enough.
I flipped through the pages with it's sing-song rhymes.  A little spider enters the world and can't find her mama.  She wonders where her mama is.  I was choking up on page 2 already wondering if I should have preread the book.  Got to page the 3rd to last page, and remembered the gravity of this book with such depth.  How could I forget?
Big stuff.
Big stuff in little guy format.
Little Spider's birth mama never makes an appearance in the story.  But another mama, Betty, loves Little Spider so very much, and they become a family.


It struck me like a ton of bricks.  The depth of what the content was saying to my children.  That they are loved and welcomed into this world.  And a mama, me, took a bit longer to find them.


On that first read in a long time, by that last page, I was holding back my emotions, my tears.  As I read the last page, Jude turned to me and asked, Is that the mama? pointing to Betty.  There was so much confusion in his question.  I could see his wheels turning.  How could a beetle be a mama to a spider.  Especially when they didn't look alike.


Tess and Jude have asked that this book to be read to them at least once a day for weeks now.  The binding is now coming off, and we all know the words by heart now.


I find myself still fighting back the tears when I read it, and I know it has something to do with my own little China spider still waiting for a mama to call her own.  I want the book to be a catalyst for Tess and Jude, not scary stuff that makes mamas cry.


They ask questions every. single. time.  Tess is fascinated by Bity, (or Bettle Betty) and gets so excited and smiles broadly when Betty saves Little Spider from the birds.  Tess keeps asking about Betty.  Where is Bity?  Bity is very pretty! she adds.
Jude asks more in depth questions, mostly things like, Where is spider's mama?  Why isn't her mama there?  Whose home is that?  

You can see the processing so clearly that I'm surprised there isn't smoke pouring our their ears.


I am fully aware of the controversial messages some folks think this book sends to adoptees.  Some of you adoptive parents may like this book and others may not.  I can see both the pros and the cons.  For us, I will say that this book is working as a catalyst for my littles to express themselves and ask questions.  I'm going to continue sitting there right next to them, discussing the issues.  So for now, I think this is good stuff, so we'll keep reading it to them and talking about it as long as they ask.

Is this book in your library?