Home Study - Accomplished

We are happy to say that our home study went amazingly well! We were super nervous but our Social Worker was very good at putting us at ease. Our shy dog - Luka was a little standoffish but she still thought we had great dogs. 

For those of you who are curious about the home study process I would be glad to share with you our experience. First of all I should say that we way over did the cleaning. You may be surprised to find out that she didn't look in our cabinets or drawers. If you're laughing right now - I totally deserve it. I cleaned everything. Though I may have done too much I was comfortable knowing that my house was in fact clean. 

We first sat down with the social worker for about an hour as she asked us a variety of questions. We were asked about our childhood, family, reasons for adopting, and our interests and personality. As long as you are honest, I think the questions are pretty easy to answer. You are talking about things that you know - yourself and your family - so there's really no trick questions. 

After the questions she wanted a tour of our house. We showed her the backyard, the family room, and where the baby's room will be. One thing I read that was helpful is to start baby proofing your house. Social workers like to see that it's something you are thinking about and its also just a good idea. We have some pretty silly dogs and I wouldn't put it past them to go around licking light sockets. 

The whole process took about two hours and we felt really good about it afterwards. I have to say that I slept so well that night knowing that the home study was done and that we are definitely on the road to adopting. 

Thanks,

mindy

"She goes around in circles 'till she very, very dizzy..." - Cinderella

This week we are preparing for our home study. A social worker will come to our house and look around to see if it is conducive for a loving and healthy environment for a child. We've been cleaning like crazy - all the nooks and crannies. Even the dogs have been cleaned - and they better keep it that way (now if we can only get Garrett to clean up - just kidding). There is a lot of pressure put on the home study and I have been trying to relax but it's very stressful. I try to remember that of course our house is kid-friendly my nephew comes over, our friends' kids come over, and I even let my 23 year-old brother come over. I guess this is just the first official step we are taking towards the adoption - the no-turning-back step - and there's a certain amount of stress to that. 

Part of the stress of the home study is - how far is too far? Vacuuming, dusting, mopping all seem reasonable. Scrubbing the baseboards, washing the walls, using a toothbrush - maybe that was my step too far. I actually told my mom that last week was the deep clean week and that this week was for regular cleaning. Only a truly odd person has different definitions of clean. Those of you who know me well know my sick relationship with cleaning. I asked Garrett if we could make coffee for our home study - he said that was fine. The muffins and fresh cut flowers he thought might be too far. I have to remember - this isn't a brunch get-together with friends (so I guess having music in the back ground is too much?).

So, here's hoping I don't hand wash the covers of our books and Windex each of our CD cases. I just really hope every thing goes smoothly and that we get a good report.

Wish us luck,

mindy