Mom Jill Robbins from San Antonio, Texas does a Mother's Day tradition. Every year, she buys a card for her adopted sons' birth mothers where she writes updates about the kids. The birth moms, however, never get to read these cards even if Robbins wants them to.
Robbins, who's also behind the blog Ripped Jeans and Bifocals, reveals the Mother's Day cards she buys every year are kept in a shoebox that's in her closet. She's been writing letters since her sons came to her life at age 3-years-old and 2-years-old. Kyle and Zack are now 7-years-old and 6-years-old, respectively.
"I write little snippets of what they've done and accomplished every year, what their challenges and accomplishments have been," Robbins revealed on Facebook. "I re-read my words and then I seal the cards," she added.
Robbins never mails the Mother's Day cards because open adoption isn't popular in China, where her boys are originally from. "There are laws in China that prohibit a mother from making an adoption plan a.k.a. giving a baby up for adoption," she said.
She also has no way of knowing her kids' family, let alone their mailing address. According to Babble, Robbins' eldest adopted son was, in fact, abandoned as a newborn and he came from an orphanage in China.
In 2013, Robbins spotted her first Mother's Day card, bought it and started writing because she felt good about it, according to Huffington Post. She also started keeping mementos of the boys in the shoebox for the birth moms.
Robbins has a message for the public to be more understanding of all mothers on Mother's Day, including those who gave up children for adoption. "No matter how you slice it, mamas do hard things," the adoptive mom said.
