How about a short update on our adoption journey?
Yesterday we received our acceptance from the Adoption agency doing our home-study! There are three levels of “acceptance” needed, and this first layer is generally pretty easy. The next layer, getting through the state of Illinois – can be a bit more difficult sometimes.
It came on the perfect day, because we were also heading to Springfield last night to spend 4 hours in a required “Adoptive Parent Training” of sorts. There were about 7 other couples, and they were all adopting from China. It was neat, overall, to do something tangible in the direction of our adoption. As in any classroom setting, my wife’s presence was a healthy protection against becoming the class clown. But here are a few examples of the humor in my head:
I understood what she was saying, but when the woman leading the session talked about a child she’d known with a disability, I laughed at how she described it. “He was missing a hand, and he could do ANYTHING!” I imagined a young boy with a cape, obviously.
Again, I understand her heart in asking, but one woman asked “I’ve heard ________ (a sappy saying)…is that a saying?” (Yes. You were just saying it.)
And so on. As you can see, it’s good for me to have my wife there, so I don’t come off as insensitive. These would have been horrible times to laugh noticeably.
We are learning a lot about the small, everyday adaptations that can help bring our daughter not only into our home – but welcome her into the family as well. The way we talk about the process. The time we spend purposefully bonding at home. With the session last night, and beginning to read “Parenting Your Internationally Adopted Child”, I feel like we’re off to a good start.
Now we’ve just got some mountains of paperwork (hyperbole), and some stuff to learn about the Congo. (beyond reading Michael Crichton) We kept getting asked questions about the Congo last night, and it made me feel like I was a bit unprepared/irresponsible. How could I not know what they eat there? 🙂
Answer? (which I probably should have known, and my wife was quick to say when I let her speak) Probably lots of rice.
words from wick 