When Arie first arrived into our lives, I
remember handing him to anyone and everyone who entered our home. We were excited
to share the sweet bundle of love, warmth, and cuddles. It is strange to think
that everyone who visited within that first 24 hours, knew this new member of
our family as well as we did. Upon his arrival, I recognized that by not
carrying him before birth, a progression of bonding needed to begin immediately.
As days and weeks passed, I began reacting a
bit differently to “sharing” the new arrival like I did in those first several
hours. I found myself mirroring some behaviors that of a Zebra. Yes, I said
Zebra. You see Zebra foals will follow literally anything that they see moving.
A mare’s response and defense to this reaction, is to hover over their young,
by only allowing them to see their stripes. This type of imprinting allows the
foal to learn the unique striping pattern, scent, and vocalization of their
mother’s compared to the other members in the herd.
With many people coming and going, and a need for
new caretakers as I had to head back to work, I often felt at times this
child’s surroundings were much like that of a herd. It’s amazing how quickly my
new motherly instincts surfaced, and I began “hovering” and trying my best to
surround him with the sounds I wanted him to recognize unique to me. I
became protective and defensive of any “bonded-like” look he would give someone
else in the room, causing a reflex type reaction to quickly remove him from
their site, once again, only to display my “stripes”.
The voices he was hearing were foreign to the
one’s he had bonded with before entering this world. I was afraid he would
react to life, like that of a baby Zebra, bonding and following any voice that
would last for any length of time. I was his momma and he had to learn that.
Well much to my surprise, it did not take long
before I would enter the room, begin talking, and his little noggin would turn
my direction, clearly responding to my voice. I began trusting more of our
unique connection, becoming more confident that he saw me as his mother. I
found myself searching for others to notice, wanting them to recognize his love
and acceptance for me.
Obnoxious, selfish, insecure, call this what
you would like. I see this as nothing but normal feelings, reactions, and
emotions in response to something so new, so scary, but yet so satisfying. The
love Jeff and I feel for this little boy cannot be described. We have never
felt a love like this. We are more than excited to announce that this love will
continue to grow and grow, into something much more over the course of our
lives, as we will be finalizing Arie’s adoption, this coming Monday, January 27th,
2014. Arie’s “Forever” Day, when God will permanently gift us with this little
Zebra, is finally here.
This is really beginning to feel like “forever”…
