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Friday, January 9, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The Paper Trail Continues.....
We finally received the fingerprint cards from the local adoption agency a few days before Christmas Eve. We dutifully went off to get them completed at police headquarters. The officer handling our fingerprints remarked “Oh it seems you have done this before” as she pressed my fingers one by one into ink and onto the card. I laughed and told her no this was my first fingerprinting session but I do watch Law and Order. She was not amused. My husband sighed and rolled his eyes. Now don’t ask me why, but we only brought two of the fingerprint cards with us to be completed. The agency sent us four.We figured they sent us extras. We received four cards and no instructions. Nice. When we came home, my husband went trolling around the internet and found the requirements for the cards. You guessed it. We needed two each. The Chinese proverb “Raise your sail one foot and you get ten feet of wind” comes to mind. I should have raised my sail and asked for clarification on the cards. A few days later, we had to find the time to get away from work, go back, and get the others completed. Another lesson learned. Tonight we finally finished the application, which included the following:
1. Two personal statements from each of us explaining why we want to be parents
2. A copy of our last income tax statement
3. Our individual W2 forms because hey, the income tax statement wasn’t enough
4. A picture of the two of us together
5. Four fingerprint cards
6. Payment for seven hundred dollars because someone has to actually read and all this information even though we are not adopting through this agency they are getting paid to submit our fingerprint cards for a background check.
7. Personal details about our parents and siblings-not just names and addresses but marital status, number of children and what they do for a living.
8. Consent forms to allow them to use our story and/or personal pictures on their website (we said no thank you to that one).
I understand the importance of screening potential parents but some of the stuff they ask is borderline silly. Why do they need to know where my sister works? How does that play into my adoption qualifications? I don’t know. I am not a child psychologist or adoption specialist but some of this stuff seems so bizarre. Regardless, we filled in the form with all of the necessary information. I drove down to the 24-hour post office in the freezing rain to mail it out. I almost slipped walking to my car on the icy driveway. For a split second, I thought “OMG I can’t go out in this! Then I thought but I must do this for my child! The weather will be even worse tomorrow and that might mean it could be another two days before it gets mailed.” I got in the car and laughed. I don’t even know this kid yet. She might not even be BORN and she has me driving out into the freezing rain. The mere thought and hope of the possibility I have a child out there somewhere has turned me into a determined protective mama bear of sorts. I wonder if this happens with other adoptive moms.
The Chinese New Year starts on January 26, 2009. It will be the year of the Ox. According to a few websites I was reading, this year is a conservative year-one of traditions and values. It will be a slow but steady year. We will see stability, growth, and diligence will pay off. The year of the Ox is a year of harvest. We will reap what we have sown. I can only pray what we have sown is sufficient.
1. Two personal statements from each of us explaining why we want to be parents
2. A copy of our last income tax statement
3. Our individual W2 forms because hey, the income tax statement wasn’t enough
4. A picture of the two of us together
5. Four fingerprint cards
6. Payment for seven hundred dollars because someone has to actually read and all this information even though we are not adopting through this agency they are getting paid to submit our fingerprint cards for a background check.
7. Personal details about our parents and siblings-not just names and addresses but marital status, number of children and what they do for a living.
8. Consent forms to allow them to use our story and/or personal pictures on their website (we said no thank you to that one).
I understand the importance of screening potential parents but some of the stuff they ask is borderline silly. Why do they need to know where my sister works? How does that play into my adoption qualifications? I don’t know. I am not a child psychologist or adoption specialist but some of this stuff seems so bizarre. Regardless, we filled in the form with all of the necessary information. I drove down to the 24-hour post office in the freezing rain to mail it out. I almost slipped walking to my car on the icy driveway. For a split second, I thought “OMG I can’t go out in this! Then I thought but I must do this for my child! The weather will be even worse tomorrow and that might mean it could be another two days before it gets mailed.” I got in the car and laughed. I don’t even know this kid yet. She might not even be BORN and she has me driving out into the freezing rain. The mere thought and hope of the possibility I have a child out there somewhere has turned me into a determined protective mama bear of sorts. I wonder if this happens with other adoptive moms.
The Chinese New Year starts on January 26, 2009. It will be the year of the Ox. According to a few websites I was reading, this year is a conservative year-one of traditions and values. It will be a slow but steady year. We will see stability, growth, and diligence will pay off. The year of the Ox is a year of harvest. We will reap what we have sown. I can only pray what we have sown is sufficient.
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