After much thought and consideration Josh and I have decided to put the adoption on hold. We are not sure when we are going to pick it up again (but we will!) but for right now we feel this is a good decision for us.
We are hoping to get some finances straightened out and hopefully work on the behaviors of our own children and our reactions to them...so hopefully to become better parents in the long run. Hunter is a very difficult child and we are trying to get a grip on that. Not only that but we need to save some money before we go through with this. While we could do it now it puts a lot of pressure on us to have the money in time...We would prefer to have all the money together BEFORE starting the process again.
We are both a bit sad and a bit apprehensive, but we know that for our own children, as well as ourselves, this will be best for now. I am hoping to be able to pick up this process again by this time next year. I will keep everyone updated!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Meeting our Social Worker
I guess our application packet is complete enough to begin the interviews with our social worker (sw)! I am very excited. We meet with her at noon on Friday, May 29th. She will do our individual interviews then. She is going to interview Josh first, then me. We really don't have a ton of stuff to do (aside from the training, of course) until our homestudy is complete.
Of course once that is complete a whole different process starts. I will go into that later though :o) One step at a time, right?
Of course once that is complete a whole different process starts. I will go into that later though :o) One step at a time, right?
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Application
We have started the application process. When they sent me the packet (which is pretty big) I figured I would fill it out, send it in, someone would come out and talk to us...then write our homestudy, then it would be over. Well, the application packet took HOURS to fill out, and WEEKS to get the materials and paperwork they need. So, we are still "filling out" the application.
We just got our fingerprints taken, and from what I understand that is the longest part of this process...since those take about 2 months to come back.
I used to always wonder why people on TV would be so nervous that their adoption would fall through. I just didn't get it. Why would it fall through? You have a home...this kid needs a home...1+1=2 right? Well, now I understand. Apparently, they can jerk the kid out from under you at any moment. Until the child is 100% legally yours via adoption then the system can take them back if they want. A lot of it is on "technicalities" and such. For instance, I have read about this one family who were matched with a child only to find out that their agency refused to do what the child's state wanted them to. Well, instead of giving the family the chance to switch agencies they just gave the kid to the 2nd family in line.
But anyway, we are currently playing the waiting game. We are signed up for training in June for 7 hours with other adoptive parents and we start PRIDE training in July (hopefully!) - which is for foster parents. It teaches you how to deal with the many issues that foster children have and how to handle the system as well. While we are not doing foster we are adopting a DCFS child so we have to have the training.
We will not be meeting with our worker until all of our paperwork is finished. At this point all of our medical forms are filled out. I need to get the dogs vaccinated and the agency is waiting for all our references to come to them and I think that will be everything. So, right now, we are just waiting. :o)
We just got our fingerprints taken, and from what I understand that is the longest part of this process...since those take about 2 months to come back.
I used to always wonder why people on TV would be so nervous that their adoption would fall through. I just didn't get it. Why would it fall through? You have a home...this kid needs a home...1+1=2 right? Well, now I understand. Apparently, they can jerk the kid out from under you at any moment. Until the child is 100% legally yours via adoption then the system can take them back if they want. A lot of it is on "technicalities" and such. For instance, I have read about this one family who were matched with a child only to find out that their agency refused to do what the child's state wanted them to. Well, instead of giving the family the chance to switch agencies they just gave the kid to the 2nd family in line.
But anyway, we are currently playing the waiting game. We are signed up for training in June for 7 hours with other adoptive parents and we start PRIDE training in July (hopefully!) - which is for foster parents. It teaches you how to deal with the many issues that foster children have and how to handle the system as well. While we are not doing foster we are adopting a DCFS child so we have to have the training.
We will not be meeting with our worker until all of our paperwork is finished. At this point all of our medical forms are filled out. I need to get the dogs vaccinated and the agency is waiting for all our references to come to them and I think that will be everything. So, right now, we are just waiting. :o)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
