As I mentioned in a previous post, and may drop into future conversations from time to time, my kids are adorable. All four of them, but the two in their 30s have less tolerance for me wafting on about it in a public place like this than the little ones, so I’ll save heaping praise on them for a future entry.

So, Sam and Cj: cute. And they get a lot of attention, partly because they solicit it and partly because, well … because they’re so darned cute.

Given the racial mix of most families in Seychelles, the fact that these kids are adopted is not assumed when they’re out with me alone. It’s often the case here that children look nothing like one parent, and it is quite common to see dark moms toting blonds, Chinese with black babies, and Caucasians women with kids across the spectrum. None of these combinations get the slightest attention.

When our family goes out en mass, however, the whole adoption thing rings a bell.

As far as I’ve been able to establish, Sam was the first internationally adopted child coming into Seychelles. There have been some going out to adoptive parents in Europe before, but none I’ve heard of coming from another country to live here. Because the country is so small, and because zaksyon, Creole for gossip, is close to an Olympic sport in popularity and perfection, Sam has become a bit of a star. Cries of “Hi, Sam!” greet us whenever we’re out, mostly coming from people Mark and I don’t know.

Now that Cj is with us, she’s getting the spillover from Sam’s fame. Many comment on how much she and Sam look alike, and only a very few ask if they’re “really” brother and sister. (They are now, is always my answer.)

It’s a bit disconcerting when strangers ‘know’ my kids, and I wonder what the long-term effects will be. It’s pretty clear that we’ll not have wallflowers, but that goes without saying in my family ... we're a boisterous bunch, and even the most reticent attention seeker is happy to do slapstick at the drop of a hat.

For the time being, like the penguins in “Madagascar” we just say: Smile and wave, Kids … smile and wave.