Am I Adopted?.

Last week, one of my children came to me all serious and said they needed to talk to me. I could tell he was serious, so we went into a room where we could be alone. His question surprised me. "Mom, am I adopted?" He had been fighting with his siblings and felt that nobody like him so he wondered if he wasn't really a "true" member of the family. I went on to assure him that he was not adopted. I told him how he looked just like his dad when he was a child and shared other traits he had that were similar to other family members.

While thinking about that, I thought it would family traits could make an interesting scrapbooking layout. Anyone who has sorted through the family's shoebox full of old photos has probably wondered about their ancestors and what they were like. This, of course, is why we are scrapbookers--to pass down our legacy to our children and grandchildren so they don't have to wonder what our lives were like--we will tell them and help them to know where they came from and how they became who they are.

The following are a few items your layout could focus on:

Physical Traits - Where did Johnny get his red hair? Or whose nose does Suzy have? Is Ricky tall like Grandpa?

Temperment - Each of us have our own temperment. In the case of one of my children it is "Temper"ment. It would be fun to create a page showing each of your family member's individual temperments and where they came from.

Talents - Did you ever wonder where mom got her "green thumb"? Did you children get their love of arts and crafts from you and their mechanical ability from their father? File away these facts for future generations.

Take some time today to think about how your inherited family traits have appeared in yourself, your children, or others in your family. Document them and preserve this important part of your history.

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