The first question

I knew the time was coming: the day my son would start asking about his birth mother.

We were sitting around the dining room table and had just finished up dinner when he came over to give me a hug.  He looked up at me and asked, “Are you going to turn into Momma Dina?”  I was so surprised, I asked him to repeat the question.  He used to call her momma and identified her in pictures, and that was the extent of what he would say.  He is almost 4.  Recently he spent the weekend with his maternal grandmother, aunt, and cousins.  His older cousin calls the late wife “Auntie Dina”, so I’m assuming he had a conversation with his cousin and that’s why he called her that.

I answered him and said, “No, Mommy is going to stay mommy just like you are going to stay you.”  That was enough for him and after his hug he kept moving.

Superman and I chatted about it and he wondered if he saw the big painting of him and his mother at his grandmother’s house where his birth mother is bald.  He may have been asking if I was going to lose my hair.  I discussed the importance of only answering the question presented by Superboy – if we try to force too much on him he won’t understand.  Questions show how much his little brain is ready for (although he is very smart, I’m guessing the next question won’t be far off!)

I’m so glad I didn’t react or attach more to his question than what it meant.  This journey may not be as hard as I feared. 🙂