What Are Little Boys Made Of?

What are little boys made of?
What are little boys made of?
Frogs and snails
And puppy-dogs' tails,
That's what little boys are made of.
What are little girls made of?
What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice
And everything nice,
That's what little girls are made of

(19th century English nursery rhyme)

Most of the families who apply to adopt from God's Littlest Angels request referrals of little girls. Most of the children in my nurseries are boys.

Last week,our Director shared with us that she has no families on her waiting list, for many of little boys that are ready to be proposed.

As I did my morning rounds at the baby house this morning, I wondered which of my boys, would have to wait for a very long time, for someone to say 'yes' to them.

Frantz? He is a chubby, beautiful infant, not quite two months old, and thriving in every way. If he were proposed now, it is possible, a stretch, but possible, that his adoption would be completed before his first birthday. He is a son that would make any Mother or Father proud.

Supposing Dixie doesn't have a family for Frantz, what are the chances that she will be able to place Jamesson, my three month old who has some developmental delays from malnutrition? He is weak, but gaining strength. How long will he wait?

And what about Blanco? At 8 months old, he is the calmest baby in the NICU. He is gorgeous and happy and contented. I'm sure he would be snapped up by a modelling agency. I took it for granted that he would be snapped up by an adoptive family too. Was I wrong?

Giovani....it just doesn't seem fair that our sweet,determined boy, who is so loved by his nannies, nurses and volunteers, and who has been here for over a year all ready, should have to wait any longer.

And then there is Christophe.....I never met a child like him! He arrived in February, severely malnourished, weighing 12lb. He was 16 months old then. This boy has an incredible spirit; highly sociable, engaging, but also extremely dominant. I remember doing his developmental assessment a few months ago. Christophe had to be persuaded to co-operate. After a while, he turned the tables on me. 'Like this', he kept telling me in a tone of authority. I was taken aback. He wanted to be in-charge. He wanted to be a teacher, not a learner, and he was assessing me! I have always said, Christophe will be one of two things: a great leader or the most awful tyrant. It is my mission to make sure that he becomes the former, not the latter. He will bring a lot of joy to his 'forever family', but who are they, and when will they step forward?

I think there are many reasons why, our waiting families request baby girls. Many of them are reasonable. I can certainly understand why a single mother might feel more comfortable raising a female child, for example.

What if we think of it from a different angle? A prospective parent might wait several months, maybe over a year for a baby girl to be available. What if, all this time, the son that God would place in that waiting family, is also waiting.

I think that boys get a bad reputation. They are different from girls, there is no doubt about that but I personally adore them, and I do not find them more difficult to raise, than girls. I wonder if maybe, the single mother who hopes to adopt, has men in her life, a Father, a brother, a friend, a neighbour a priest, a pastor, who could be an excellent role model to her son. No-one can be everything or everyone to a child, girl or boy.

I know that many of you pray for our children. Would you pray that someone will say yes to all of our children? We have many boys, many sibling groups, many special needs children and older children who will be difficult to place. GLA is a good orphanage by Haitian standards. but it is not a family and children need a deserve to be set in families.

If you are a prospective adoptive parent, maybe your dossier is in Haiti, maybe you are in the process of gathering all of your paperwork, I am asking you to pray too. Might God be leading you to consider adopting a boy? If you haven't received a proposal, it is not too late to contact Dixie or your agency, and tell them, you would gladly welcome a boy into your family.