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Your car pulls into the driveway and you breathe a sigh of relief. It’s good to be home! There are so many things on your “to-do” list, but creating an adoption film isn’t one of them. You lug you luggage (is that why it’s called that!??!) into your house, greet your pets, begin to unpack, start the first load of laundry, wonder if there’s anything edible in the house after being gone for 2 1/2 weeks, and soak in that welcome feeling of “home”. But somehow “home” isn’t the same as when you left it. You have just made it through 36 hours of non-stop travel with a toddler that barely knows you. The days / weeks that follow are a blur as you work on recovering from jet lag and wondering if life is ever going to go back to “normal”.
I can assure you that it will and does, although it’s a new normal and will come with new joys and challenges along the way.
Side note : If this is the story you are living and need someone to talk to, PLEASE do not hesitate to reach out! Our story is an open book to adopting families and I am so happy to help if I can!
So after you catch up on sleep, and paperwork (yes – there’s still more and it feels like getting kicked while you are down to have to do paperwork when you are home with a grieving child), and have settled in, and have started to figure out what life now looks like as a new family… what’s next?
Adoption Film!
In our world, it’s time to work on an adoption film. We are going to spend a whole lot more time on this in the future, but for now, I wanted to share our daughter’s film with you. This is a trailer for her full adoption film which will remain hers… and it’s close to an hour long, so you probably didn’t want to watch anyways. 🙂
This is so much more than a home movie. It represents so much love and care, having documented the journey, and now being able to visually tell the story of how we met.
In the first months home (and to this day), our kids have LOVED watching these films. Seeing their story unfold, being able to watch their foster families, seeing the beautiful place that they came from, watching themselves interact with us for the first time… it’s been invaluable!
In the world of adoption, a “Life Book” is an incredible way for adoptive parents to share the child’s story with them. I totally see the value in this, but in all honesty, it isn’t something that I have tackled yet. Why? Adoption films. As our children grow and ask more questions, their story is always open and we are so happy to talk with them about it and provide those details.
I have two seriously well-adjusted kiddos though who came from half a world away and I truly believe that having a visual story for them to watch has been heeling, given closure, and made their whole adoption story come to life in a way that photos or images on a page could never capture. Their adoption films are easily the most requested watch in our home and we love sharing and reliving those memories with them.
If you have been sitting on your raw video clips from your trip and aren’t sure what to do, we are hoping to be a resource for you on this. We want you to feel confident with the tools we give you to not only capture your adventure beautifully, but also to know what to DO with those files.
Where do I start?
Before you do anything, back it up and back it up again. Seriously – have it in at least two places! If you don’t have it in more than one place, be mentally prepared to lose it. We have lost years worth of files on failed hard drives (thankfully not adoption related). Back it up!
Already done that? Then it’s time to elevate your home movies and learn more about creating a visual story that your kids will love and you’ll be thrilled to share with family and friends so they can see your adoption story come to life!
If that step feels overwhelming, we can help you with that. We have loved putting together these films for our kids and have made them for others as well. We would love to chat with you more about your story and see how we could create a beautiful visual story for you to share.
