This blog covers our wait, travel, and adjustment to our 4 year old adopted Chinese daughter Sarah Shui Qing from Nanjing. There are over 1000 posts. I have moved my blog to Catching Butterflies 2. I hope you will enjoy reading this blog. It has alot of information on Special needs adoption. Follow us to our new address Catching Butterflies 2! Thank you for reading!

Tuesday, February 27, 2007


I got a few e-mails about a comment I made concerning Sarah's hair and beauty. First you need to understand; in our western eyes we think Sarah is absolutely gorgeous!!! Feel free to agree!!! The comments made that she "looks like a boy", and "she is ugly" came from real Chinese people. The "she is ugly" came from an honest 5 year old! Perhaps in China, as in many other places, a women's glory is in her hair. What is the USA's obsession with Britney's new hair all about anyway? It is after all “JUST HAIR"!!! Sarah is a smart 4 year old who can speak and understand Chinese. If she leaves the protective walls of her orphanage, and hears honest comments from Chinese people, she may end up with a low self esteem. In my experience, it is the people who have low self esteem that are obsessed with their looks. People who feel good about themselves relax and value what is real! Thomas came home from Thailand and wanted his hair dyed blond. For a long time, he hated his looks. He is by far the vainest one of my children. All of this comes from a low self esteem. Thank God his self worth is improving...and with the improvement comes less obsession with his looks! I want no comments, or good comments from Chinese people towards Sarah. I don't want to spend a few years trying to repair a damaged self-worth just because her hair was short!!! I have not decided if we will get fake ponytails for her, but if we do you will know it was just to protect her! In my eyes she could not be more beautiful!

Here is an article about Chinese beauty. This is a list of traits Chinese people consider beautiful....
"Very specific traits constitute beauty in China. Here is a list of attractive qualities I have gathered from my colleagues: big eyes, high nose, small mouth, thin figure, white teeth, duck-egg-shaped face, almond-shaped eyes, long eyelashes, dark irises, dimples, small waist, long straight hair, long legs, white smooth skin, no moles or freckles, and double eyelids."