Home Study 101

No one tells you that the Home Study is like, ummm, I guess, a pop quiz. Except you have had 31 years to prepare because the test is all about "you". A fill-in-the-blank of your whole life. A True/False of your marriage, your family, and childhood. A short answer of your parenting beliefs. AND, a multiple choice of all things personal; past, present, and future.

We had a great visit with our case worker. Really. She is lovely, kind, funny, and very gentle with her incredibly detailed and very thorough questions. We really had a nice time meeting with her. I love talking about anything and everything that comes around to our daughter. It's just sort of intense. Imagine the most important job interview of your life. You prepare, you know your facts, you look the part, you know you are the best person for the job... bring it on! Then, whoa! The questions come. Keith, tell me how you fist knew that you loved Beth. Beth, what qualities did you first admire about Keith. What is challenging in your marriage? How do you discipline Sam, how do you solve problems, what was your childhood like, why did you get a speeding ticket in 2000?????? That's not to get into the topics that actually pertained to adoption!! Well, it all went well and we are happy to be moving forward. (Sigh of relief.)

What's to come?

Our case worker will meet with one of our references. (Oh, to be a fly on the wall.) She will write our Home Study report. (That should be a good read!) Then we will begin to collect the paperwork that will make up our dossier. Ideally, this information would go to Guatemala, but we are less certain of that with each passing day. We are considering other countries to proceed with and are relying on input from some very smart people.

Here is a link for those interested in "what is going on with adoption in Guatemala????".

http://www.guatadopt.com/archives/000600.html#000600

It is all very disheartening, and we are hopeful for those families who are already invested in bringing their child home from Guatemala.

Though we are not entirely sure of how we will proceed, we are truly committed to bringing our child home... wherever she may be. Stay tuned.

Oh, and loved this book, too. It was practically written with Sam in mind and he loves to hear the point of view of the big brother!

Much love.