There are so many meaningful (and fun!) ways to explore heritage. Language, religion, food, holidays and celebrations, clothing, music, literature and the arts, travel: there is so much to learn about. I have heard of a number of ways that adoptive families explore, and embrace, the culture of their adopted child. Here are ten:

1. Celebrate a new holiday: In my opinion, there’s always room for another reason to celebrate.  A blog I follow by a mom with two adopted daughters from India writes about their Diwali celebrations with immense pride and joy. Several families I know with children from China make it a point to attend Chinese New Year celebrations every year.


2. Make a dinner with food from your child’s heritage: Whether it’s black-eyed peas and collard greens, mango lassi, or pelmeni, cooking is a fun (and tasty) way to incorporate your child’s heritage into daily life.


3. Learn a language: Take classes, buy a dvd or find native speakers in your community. I know a few families who have taken language classes together which means you can practice with each other.


4. Travel to the country (or region in the U.S.) of your child’s birth! Whether your child was born in another part of the United States, or in another country, go there! There is no better way to get a sense of history, architecture, food, language and people.


5. Decorate with culture: Display maps of the country your child was born in, or purchase dolls in traditional dress.


6. Attend a cultural festival or program: Every year at the Seattle Center, there are many different cultural festivals: Asian, Irish, Iranian, Croatia, Mexico and West Africa to name a few. Festivals like these are a fantastic chance to sample food, listen to music, watch dance and learn about another cultural heritage.


7. Sing a song or play a tune: As a college exchange student, I lived in Amsterdam for six months. My Dutch host grandmother taught me a children’s song and said, “You may forget everything else, but you’ll remember the song.” I can still this song thirty years later! Or, if you’re not musical, buy a CD.


8. Join an adoptive family group that shares the cultural background of your child: In our area, I’ve met several local families who are members of FRUA (Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption, Including Neighboring Countries), which is a national organization. My sister, and her daughter who was adopted from China, attended family gatherings sponsored by her adoption agency. They are a great opportunity for kids to interact with other adopted kids who share the same cultural heritage.


9. Read bedtime stories that are folk tales common to the region or country, OR make a book about your child’s country: I’ve seen some wonderful books of Mayan folk tales, Russian folk tales and folk tales from just about every country on the globe. Or create your own book with pictures of the flag from your adopted child’s country, animals, maps, costumes and photographs.


10. As adopted children grow, there are increasingly more opportunities for them to investigate their birth heritage on their own, from the internet to heritage camps to travel in the country of their birth to enrolling in service organizations like the Peace Corps.

A few days ago someone asked me “What kind of diapers do you plan to use?”  “Uh, diapers?” was my response.

The truth is I don’t know much about diapers. Sure, I am aware that there are cloth diapers and disposable diapers. I’m even savvy enough to know that there are all sorts of groovy diapers these days: pre-folded with handy-dandy pocket systems and even all-in-one diapers.  But whether we want BumGenius, Gdiapers or Fuzzibunz is a mystery to me.

Aside from my lack of knowledge about diapers themselves the, er, bottom line is that I’ve never changed a baby and have yet to choose and use diapers. Even if we had diapers in the house, my confidence on what to do with them is on the low end of the bell curve. It’s been decades since I last did any babysitting and all the kids I took care of back in the day were all ready toilet trained.  Plus, I was only three when my sister was born, so my recollections of a diaper service and diapers being dunked in the toilet are vague at best.

Up till now, what little Big Papa and I have learned about diapers, has been gleaned from the other end of the life continuum: adult diapers. I’ve purchased more than my fair share of pull-ups for my dad in the nearly four years he’s lived near Seattle.

And, sadly, Big Papa’s first experience with diaper changing was also dad-related, at 30,000 feet some place over the mid-West when we moved my father to Seattle from Florida. When my father, who is disabled, lost control of his southern end shortly after take-off, my sweet (fiancé at the time) Big Papa spent most of the flight from Charlotte, North Carolina to Seattle, Washington learning about do-do and Depends.

We laugh about it now, but while it was happening, we were horrified. I remember standing in front of the bathroom (where my father was holed up for most of the flight) holding up an airplane blanket to offer privacy (my father’s paralyzed and we couldn’t get him solidly into the bathroom enough to close the door) while Big Papa came to the rescue.

I couldn’t believe Big Papa was doing this for my dad…and for me. If there had been someone to marry us on that plane, I would have done it on the spot.

But I digress, so back to diapers and babies. We realized we needed a little help. While there are tons of websites these days, some devoted exclusively to diapers and the pros and cons of this diaper versus that diaper, and there are videos showing how to change a baby (thank you YouTube), we felt like we really needed a bit more, um, hands-on experience.

So we signed up for a diaper class. “Are you sure you want to use cloth, but are confused and overwhelmed by all the options?” Yes, that would be us (at least we think we want to use cloth). Adventures in Cloth Diapering, here we come!

I’ll be sure to report back and let everyone know which pampers we prefer. In the meantime, I’m trying to learn what I can about the business end of a baby.

“Laughter is like changing a baby’s diaper. It doesn’t permanently solve any problems, but it makes things more acceptable for a while.”

The cooking class was held at Metropolitan Market.  Lesa Sullivan, who taught the Armenian cooking class I attended at PCC Natural Markets, was the chef. She also generously donated her services at a pittance. This cause is near and dear to her heart as well since Lesa’s husband is of Armenian descent. Lesa was also very close to an Armenian family during her younger years growing up in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The fabulous menu included:

• S’rj: spiced Armenian coffee


• Sarma: rolled and stuffed grape leaves


• Lentil soup


• Matzoun: Armenian yogurt


• Armenian Pilaf: pasta, rice, and chopped apricots


• Bourma: sweetly spiced rolled phyllo dough dessert

Nineteen participants rolled up their sleeves and then got down to business rolling Sarma and Bourma, and stirring lentils while sipping S’rj and munching on snacks of lavash, Armenian flatbread, and Soujuk, Armenian sausage. I saw a room full of smiles, heard a constant stream of laughter and smelled the intoxicating fragrances of Armenian cuisine.

When the class ended, and after we cleaned up, Lesa gave me a special treat: two pint-jars of Matzoun.  Matzoun, Armenian yogurt, is sour firm and thick. I am a yogurt aficionado and Armenian yogurt, in my somewhat biased opinion, is the crème de la creme. When I was visiting Yerevan, Armenia this past September, I got to eat some of the best darn yogurt I’ve ever had. Yogurt for breakfast with sliced fruit. Yogurt served as a ‘side’ to drizzle on top of dolma and sarma rolls. A refreshing minted yogurt, called Tahn, was chilled with ice and water and offered as a drink to pair cool down the heat of spicy Lamajoun (Armenian pizza).

One interesting thing about yogurt is that it takes yogurt to make yogurt. That’s not so much of a problem today, when plain yogurt purchased from the supermarket provides the necessary bacterial starter. But that wasn’t always the case.

Being an organic substance, getting the first yogurt starters into the United States in the 19th century was no easy task. There was absolutely no way for the immigrants to simply bring their needed starter through American customs. But American customs agents greatly underestimated Armenian ingenuity.

The essential ingredient for turning milk into yogurt is a complex set of bacteria that basically takes over the medium (milk) and transforms it. The bacteria can live for a period of time under less than ideal circumstances. Knowing this bit of information is essential. Savvy Armenian émigrés would dip some fresh white handkerchiefs into a mixture of water and yogurt before they sailed for America. The handkerchiefs were then line dried and neatly folded into their luggage. Once they were safely through customs and settled into their new homes, they would simply soak the linen in some warm milk, reactivating the culture, and make their yogurt!

I could hardly contain my excitement as Lesa nestled the pint jars of yogurt into a small carry-out container, wrapping a dish towel tightly around the twin treasures to prevent my precious cargo from too much jostling. They sat and “cured” on my counter at home for twelve hours and are now chillin’ for a few days in the fridge. I can’t wait to dive in and enjoy my homemade Matzoun.

All in all, it was a wonderful way to while away the afternoon. The class, the cuisine, the companionship, and the cause: it all made my heart soar.

Matzoun (Yield 3-1/2 cups yogurt)

• 3 cups organic heavy cream or half and half


• 1 package yogurt starter or 3 tablespoons cultured yogurt

Prepare your yogurt maker according to manufacturer’s instructions or have ready a small insulated cooler, warm, damp towels and glass jars. Wrap the jar in the warm towels while preparing the yogurt. Heat cream in a saucepan until a thermometer reaches 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from heat and whisk in the starter or yogurt. Fill your yogurt making container according to the manufacturer’s instructions or fill the glass jar with the cream (or half and half). Wrap the warm towels around the glass jar and tuck them into the insulated cooler (if the towels have cooled, you can toss them in the microwave or your dryer to gently rewarm them). Close the cooler and gently place it in an out of the way place that’s a tad warm (like the top of the fridge) for 8-12 hours. Test for desired thickness; if it’s not to your liking you can let it go another 8-12 hours. Cover and refrigerate. Yogurt will stay good for up to a month and will continue to sour as it ages. When you are ready to make your next batch of Matzoun, simply take 3 tablespoons of your remaining Matzoun for a ‘starter’ and begin again.

Want to read about more tantalizing treats? Check out Wanderfood Wednesday. And, keep an eye out for upcoming weeks in Pampers and Pakhlava, where I’ll share more divinely delicious Armenian recipes.