How I see it by Harry
Read our interview with 13 year old Harry.* He was four years old when his parents adopted a little girl – his sister Cassie*. You can also read Harry’s mum’s blog. Scroll down and click the link.
What’s your earliest memory of your sister coming to live with you?
Not that much! It was nearly nine years ago. I do remember seeing her in real life for the first time (before that we had photos of her). We went into her foster carers’ house – the front door went straight into the room where she was – and she looked up at us; she wasn’t that interested to be honest! I was four or five, and she wasn’t one yet, a baby. I was quite excited to be getting a sister.
We were collecting her from a different part of the country, quite a long way from where we live so we rented a house for the week. First my parents went to meet her, and I stayed with Grandma. Then the next day I got to meet her, and we took her to a huge soft play place – that was fun. At the end of the week, we took her home in the car.
I enjoyed going round everywhere introducing her to people. She came with my mum to pick me up from school. We went back to my old play group – I rushed in saying ‘this is my new sister! She’s adopted!’ and everyone came to see her.
She always has loads of energy and can be very funny – I remember when she crawled she just put her head down and charged, like a little rhinoceros. Now she‘s older she does cartwheels all-round the living room.
What do you like best about being a big brother?
This may sound a bit weird, but I like not being an only child. Having another kid in the family so it’s not all about me – that’s got to be good for me in the long term, right? Also, someone else who wants to do kid-things. Of course, it has its downsides too – she is very annoying!
What are the great and not so great things about having a sister?
She always wants attention; she always wants to annoy me; she wants everything her own way – typical sister! At the moment it’s fun when I can teach her how to play computer games and give her stuff in the game.
What do you know about adoption or about children who need adoption?
I know that there are children whose parents can’t look after them; they probably love them, but they can’t keep them safe for all kinds of different reasons.
What’s the best time you’ve had as a family?
I like being with all our cousins, a big gang of us, playing football. My sister can play football too – she’s really sporty. And Christmas is brilliant.
What should other birth children know?
I’m not sure. Having an adopted sister is just one of those things – it’s all I know, so I can’t say if it’s different.
Thank you for a great interview Harry! If you would like to read the blog by Harry’s mum Sara*, click here or if you’d like to know more about adopting a child, please book onto an Information session or a Meet The Adopters session.
*names changed.