Maybe a story about China

Tonight as I was putting Julia to bed, I think that Julia told me a story about China. I mean, I think she did. It was a Julia rambling, not totally coherent, not really in narrative form, but bits and pieces of something. We had read Coffee Can Girl, a picture book about adoption. I brought the book home from the library, and tonight Julia asked to read it, and asked me to use her name instead of Annie, the name of the girl in the book. The story goes through how a baby was born in China to a mother who was too young to take care of her. And I added that Julia was born in China too and that she had a China mommy. When the story turned to the parents in the United States, I added that Daddy and I waited and waited for Julia to come home just like that mommy and daddy.

When I was finished with the story, and about to give Julia a kiss goodnight when she started to tell me how sad she was. She is saying the often but this time when I asked why, she told me that she was too young, too little, and couldn't reach. I tried to draw her out without feeding her information which is hard with Julia, but she seemed very sure about what she was talking about. Julia said that she didn't want to go down the slide or go on the swing any more. I asked why and she said that she fell down and was hurt. I asked if she was bleeding and she told me, no, not bleeding, but that her head hurt. She told me she couldn't make it back inside and that she went to sleep on the ground. I asked if there was anyone to come out and take care of her, and she told me no. Generally, when she told this story, she referred to herself in the third person, but at times she referred to BaiBai. I will ask at school next week if Julia fell off the swings or the slide recently, but I am sure they would have told me something or written something in her parents' notebook. The story doesn't sound like anything that we've experienced with her.

Julia talked a bit about being very scared and crying too much. She was not specific but let me comfort her some. She kept telling me that she was so sad that she could cry but she didn't cry.

After this part of her story, Julia told me that she didn't belong there anymore. I agreed and told her that she could visit China someday but that now she belonged here in Wisconsin with Daddy and Mommy.

Julia has a few scars on her body, including one on the back of her neck at her hairline. I have to look at it again, but it could have been from a bump with a swing or going down a slide the wrong way.