Tomorrow our social worker, Maria, comes to our house for the home visit portion of our home study. Essentially, she will be checking us out to be sure that we will be good parents. She will check out our home as well and will eventually write a report on us that will be sent to our placement agency, the Federal government, and the Ethiopian government. Among other things, the report will specify the type of kids we are allowed to adopt (number, age, sex, potential medical issues, etc.).
Needless to say, it's kind of intimidating.
Both Brent and I know deep down that we will be phenomenal parents and that it shouldn't be hard for our social worker to recognize it, but it is still a little unnerving to think that this person who has never met us will be analyzing us to make sure kids will be safe and nurtured in our family. Fortunately we already charmed her with the biographies we wrote (she told me that she loved them over the phone).
As you can imagine, we have been cleaning for weeks now (not that we're even that dirty, but there is always more that can be spruced up).
Besides the intimidation factor, I am trying to look at the home study as a great opportunity to speak with a professional that is knowledgeable about international adoption. We will be able to discuss our parenting plan, childcare plans, how we can help our children deal with the fact that our family will be trans-racial, how to talk to our children about adoption, special parenting techniques that can give adopted children the extra help they might need, resources available to us, etc. Ultimately, I hope that we will look back on our home study and find it to be more of a positive than a negative - I bet we will.
So, if you happen to glance at the clock tomorrow and its noon California time send some good vibes toward Ventura. We'll be assembling our charming faces and greeting Maria at the door. Oh, and if you think of it, send Buster and Lola calm, polite energy as well.
Well.....what happened?
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