Honoring Origins

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If you follow college football at all, then it’s no mystery why our oldest daughter recently sported her Oregon Ducks shirt, proudly explaining to all who would listen here in the Montana Tundra that she’s actually an Oregonian…

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old pic, same shirt

… And she’s right, the first four members of our family were born in Oregon; all five of us are non-native, transplanted Montanans.

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While from day one we have made it a priority to honor Little Man’s Chinese roots, I never gave much thought to doing the same for our girls. Honoring our birth culture, our origins, is important.

I’ve previously shared some of the ways that we deliberately incorporate Chinese culture into our Montana home, with the aim of instilling a sure sense of pride in our son with regards to his rich heritage: observing Chinese holidays, adorning our home with items that pay homage to China, and heavily peppering our library with books on China, to name a few.

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pandas for days
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they’re everywhere
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rocking her panda hat (purchased in china) en rote to her first flute lesson this week… she dresses herself

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plethora of china-inspired apparel (jefe, what is a plethora?)

After my recent revelation in regards to our pint-sized Oregonians, I determined to do the same thing, for them. This Christmas I purchased a wooden Oregon sign, crafted by an old friend and neighbor, to hang in the girls’ bedroom. We want them to know their birth-story is equally important and special.

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they both love it, youngest was just upset i made her stand up for the photo– which she couldn’t do in her mermaid tail

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I also found this great Oregon book, filled to the brim with fun, familiar landmarks. Little Man had received it’s Montana counterpart from a friend for his birthday this past summer.

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Whatever their origins, however they come to us, it’s important to celebrate our children’s heritage and birth culture.


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