This afternoon I took my boy to Xiǎo bǎo bèi (Little Treasures), the Taiwanese language / culture classes run by a wonderful adoptive mummy. As usual, my boy was very tentative when we arrived, he sat on my lap, wouldn’t sit with the other kids at afternoon tea, sat at a separate table with me close by while they did calligraphy etc. but then the most wonderful thing happened…

When the other kids (all adopted from Taiwan / China, ranging from 3-12 years old) went outside to run around and play after class, he went with them. Without me!!! He kept coming back to the hall entrance to check I was there, but he went without me and played with kids he didn’t know, in an unfamiliar environment!! The other mums were witness to my astonishment (and my nervousness as I kept trying to spy on him to check he was ok!).

It’s such a small thing to most people but such a huge step for my boy to trust that he could be safe without me, and trust that I’d still be there.