By Molly Snyder Senior Writer Published Apr 23, 2009 at 9:34 AM

My kid has gone through some interesting phases. For a while, he only wanted turkey dogs for breakfast. Then he added "mi olde" to everything, like "Mom, where’s mi olde soccer ball?" And recently, he started greeting people he’s meeting for the first time with, "I’m Kai. I’m adopted."

Yesterday, a nurse stopped by our house to take our blood and urine for a new insurance policy, and Kai met her at the door with, "I’m Kai. I’m adopted, so I wasn’t born."

("Kai," my husband said. "Everyone was born.")

People really don’t know how to respond to my son’s new greeting. They usually get a slightly soft, concerned look on their face in recognition that even the healthiest adoption still symbolizes loss.

However, my husband and I know our son is proud of being adopted, and that is why he tells people this tidbit of personal info right off the bat. We know that at some point he will most likely struggle with the absence of his birth parents, but for now, he thinks it’s pretty cool. And so do we.


Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.

Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.