Chad and I drove to Fargo yesterday to pick up some materials for a job, but we also were able to meet with Lindsey for the first time. Lindsey is the social worker who will be doing our home study. The home study basically looks at our family as people, instead of just paper. It will asses whether or not we are people whose hearts and home are right for an adopted child.
Yesterday Lindsey gathered background information on Chad and myself. She asked a lot of questions, listened, and took notes.
She asked things like:
Describe your Mom.
Describe your Dad.
How did they parent/discipline? Is that how you parent?
What type of values did they instill?
What is your relationship like with them now?
Are you more like your Mom or Dad, in what ways?
Describe your siblings.
What was your relationship like with them growing up?
What is it like today?
What does your family think about you adopting?
What were your teen years like, jobs, hobbies, etc...
What are your job schedules like?
What do you like to do for fun?
What are your long term goals?
We visited for about an hour and a half. I bet you are curious about what we had to say? It was actually kind of fun. We are been lucky to have a lot of great memories to share from wonderful examples.
Lindsey gave us a little homework - just more forms! She also gave us a list of training opportunities. The state requires 10 hours of training for adoptive parents. She gave us a list of resources that I am excited to explore.
We will meet with her 2 more times.
I am finding myself enjoying this part of the process. Completing paperwork is "doing" something. After we have all the paperwork in place, we wait. That will be hard. Waiting for a child to be referred to us will be OK. Waiting for a court date (which will be about 8 wks after the referral) and then to travel and receive our son 8 weeks after that will be much HARDER!
