Attachment and Bare Feet: 6 Months Home

I love little bare feet.

Our youngest son William has been home from Ethiopia for six months now, and he continues to make great strides in his attachment process. A while back I posted Sweet Little Breakthrough about how he had started doing little things that seem like no big deal with our bio kids, but mean the world with kiddos who have been adopted at an older age (holding my hand without protest, for instance). In that same vein, the picture above represents so much more than than cute little piggy toes (and chipped nail polish).

When William came home, one of the first things we noticed was that he was obsessed with being fully dressed. First thing in the morning he would go into his closet, pick out his clothes, and get dressed all the way down to his socks and shoes. It was adorable.

It was also an institutional behavior.

I don’t know about you, but in our house the kids don’t get out of their pajamas unless they have to, and they never put on shoes until the last minute. We’ve shown up at restaurants with a barefoot kid before because we didn’t “check feet” before we left. Oh, and there was the time I was out for the day and my husband met me for dinner (dinner!) with one daughter in her pj’s. He didn’t notice and she wasn’t going to say a word.

So when William came out of the bedroom looking like Rico Suave every morning, it was a cute little quirk. We didn’t think much about it. Then, little by little, he started waiting longer to get dressed. Maybe he would wait until after breakfast one day, or wear flip flops instead of socks and shoes. The more comfortable he was in our family, the more relaxed he was about his dress. He didn’t have to be “ready to go” at a moment’s notice any more.

Fast forward a few months and just like his siblings, he doesn’t get out of his pajamas unless he has to, and he never puts on his shoes until the last minute. He’s one of us, and he’s here to stay!

Another bit of cuteness: Luke, my 5-year-old, saw William’s feet one day and said, “Look Mom! Our feet are the same color on the bottom!”

“…red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight…”

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Tiffany Castleberry

Tiffany lives near Tulsa, Oklahoma, with her high-school-sweetheart husband and five fantastic kids, four by birth and one from Ethiopia. Her passions include Bible study, adoption, homeschooling, and gourmet cupcakes (eating them, not baking them). When she isn’t doing laundry or driving to her children’s activities, you can find her blogging at Stuff and Things.