perfection

This past weekend, I attended a dog show in Shelton, WA.  Well, more than attended, I entered my little male toy poodle in the show.

AKC, or American Kennel Club, started these shows so that the standards that were set for each breed could be maintained, and passed from generation to generation resulting in "purebred" dogs. 

I'm an animal lover, and can totally understand that for each breed to remain true (and continue to look like the breed as it was intended from inception) you have to really try and only breed for those traits and standards. 

Weird how watching a dog show brought me thoughts of adoption.

How so?  You might ask.

You start by getting your dog prepared.  Bathing them, conditioning their coat.  Clipping their nails, and trimming their fur to the correct standard of the breed.  In my case, a poodle puppy cut. 

Hours before the show, you arrive, and set up.  Primping the hair, coaxing it into position and spraying the heck out of it with so much hairspray the air is filled with the noxious scent!

This is all for the grand moment when you carry your specimen into the ring.

He or she is paraded around in front of a judge and every movement is held accountable.  They must have the correct gait, the correct structure, the correct build.  They must have the correct head, eyes, and ear set.  Their back end must be perfect, and they should be able to 'stack' themselves if asked.

Most of the time, there is competition.  The judge has to select from all of the dogs present, and decide which one best exemplifies the breed. 

One by one, you are asked to put the dog up on the stand and the judge checks him/her over with a fine tooth comb, looking closely in their mouths at their bite, and their teeth.  Feeling their body over for any malformities. For the males, they check to see if both testicles are present.

What exactly am I saying here?

They want perfection. 

The kiddos in the foster system must feel like this all the time.  They are put up against hundreds, or thousands of other hopefuls.  All of us adoptive parents to be look them over (albeit at first only by their picture and profile) and scrutinize them. 

We lift our giant magnifying glass and peer in at them, dissecting their lives, tearing into all the imperfections they may have...looking for a perfect child. Reading their issues and 'problems' they have with dismay and dissapproval.  The perfect child?

There is none. 

I also happened to think of the African American people who were snatched up by slave traders, and brought against their will to America.  In much the same way, they were put up on auction blocks, and checked over (no respect for humanity) Judged by those who were looking to purchase them, they were humiliated beyond belief, torn apart from their family members, and sold into a life of slavery...how awful.

In the dog ring, we give out ribbons and points to the winners in the various categories.  Everyone claps and congratulates the owners.  Pictures are taken and pride of ownership is rewarded. 

It seems that for foster kids who need a home so desperately, that they have to try and look as perfect as possible...so that they can fit into the June Cleaver lifestyle of the person wishing to adopt them...instead of just being themselves.  Trying to be perfect. 

I want to remind myself and others, that NONE of these kids raised their hands before they were born, and begged to be born into that particular family.  NONE of them ASKED to be abused.  NONE of them asked to be fed drugs and alchohol while they were in the womb.  NONE of them asked to be a foster kid, passed from foster home to foster home. 

All they ask is to be accepted, and taken care of...for their needs to be met.  For someone to love them.

no one is perfect.