On Matching.

Here's Lily and I in our matching blue and white

This morning I heard Daniel shout to his dad, "I wanna wear our matching outfits today!"  (I didn't hear Andrew groan, but I'm sure he did.)

Daniel is going through a phase right now. He wants to "match us" and, of course, is frustrated that he can't. He'll never have the straight hair of his dad, or our pale skin.  Part of this, I'm sure, is that he has already absorbed the "black/brown is worse, pale/white is better" that's in the air we breathe here in America. A bigger part is that, just like all young children, he wants to look like mommy and daddy. Lily is in this stage too- but as a 2 year old. She likes to clomp around in my shoes and put on my necklaces.

We've had many conversations about matching, Daniel and I. We've talked about how he looks like his beautiful family in Ethiopia, and how even though our skin and hair are different, we are alike in other ways. We all like pizza, we like to do things together, we speak the same language (now).  One of the ways that he's latched on to is that we can dress alike.  Yup, my 6 year old wants us all to wear matching outfits. In public. Sigh.

Which is why I found myself in the GAP the other night, purchasing matching sweatshirts for all 4 of us. I also got some similar plaid shirts for the guys.  Lily already has so many clothes that I'm sure I can put together coordinating outfits easily, as I did accidentally before we took the photo above.

So if you see my family walking about in matching outfits, please try not to point and laugh. We're working on attachment and family identity!

Thanks.