An acupuncturist I know warned me to go beyond the “blonde and blue-eyed” baby, and consider adopting a child from a minority. This annoyed me the first time she said it and when she said it again, I corrected her. I told her that I had actually pictured an African-American child joining our home. She made no remarks after that.

Funny, it really steamed me.

Now I wonder how I’ll do when people say exactly what they’re thinking and my kid understands them! I lived in Brazil when I was a teenager and so our home-grown racism always catches me by surprise. I didn’t experience the black/white racism there.