We attended a corned beef and cabbage dinner last night, with Irish soda bread, green milk, Pellegrino in green bottles, and O’Doul’s. A young tenor sang “Danny Boy” and a line of step dancers performed jigs and reels. The evening ended with Mateo onstage, in a green hat, doing high kicks. His new career goal: troupe member of Riverdance.

Not exactly what some people might expect from a little boy born in Guatemala. But Mateo is American and lives in California. He’d rather eat hot dogs than tamales. He shows no interest in learning Spanish. As much as we try to keep his Guatemalan heritage alive, he has his own strong opinions.

As I watched my son skip joyfully around the stage, I was reminded of an article I read while we were adopting Olivia. The article profiled another adoptive mother nearby who had a daughter born in China. The mom was relating how she did her best to keep her daughter’s ties to China strong—Mandarin classes, Chinese friends, annual trips—but the girl wanted little of it. “What she’s most interested in right now,” her mother said, “is Irish step dancing.” (more…)

ShareThis