“My teacher says you’re half Chinese.”

…my youngest casually mentions over the dinner table. A year into the COVID pandemic, we’ve been having a lot of family dinners, just the five of us. I can barely remember going out for dinner without the kids, or doing anything without the kids for that matter 😏

A relaxing dinner with little or no drama about the food on the table was a nice change from most evenings, though I may or may not have cooked three different dishes to make everyone happy, myself included. I correct my daughter because no, I’m not half Chinese but people often mistakenly think so, as if China is the only Asian country 😉. No offense taken though, I also think all Asian people come from China 😆. My son joins in the conversation “oh I know, what was it again, you’re from South Korea”. He has a globe in his room so probably knows his geography better than me, which may say more about me than about him. My youngest daughter again: “so, you’re half South Korean”, all is well, nothing weird about that. I have to correct her again: “no, I’m fully Korean, you are half Korean” I say pointing at my three kids.

“WHAAAAT?! I’m half Korean?!”

My eldest daughter nearly choked on her food. I couldn’t help but laugh, what a hilarious conversation. I realize we never actually talked about this with the kids, though I’m pretty sure they knew I’m from Korea, at least my son remembered. “I don’t want to be half Korean, I want to be Belgian” which we reassured her she is but thanks for your honesty, dear 🙃

“So grandma and grandpa are also half Korean”, my youngest says matter-of-factly. So I correct her again since they are from Belgium.

“Yes, you are adopted, right?” My son has learned all about the different types of families with mom and dad, two moms, two dads, blended families and what not, but I had no idea he knew about adoption too. Not that I keep it a secret, because I expect them to notice I look different…apparently they didn’t…💙