Then things will move really quickly. We will probably start introductions within 2 weeks of matching panel and the boys will be home within about a fortnight of that.
Oh my goodness!!!!
How exciting!
Thursday 31 March 2011
We have a date!!
We have a date for matching panel! It will be the 13th May. At that point we will get the go-ahead officially, we hope, to adopt our two boys.
Wednesday 23 March 2011
Trying to Prepare
Andy and I have been trying to do some things to get ready for when the boys come home. We don't have a date for that yet. It's not actually officially confirmed. We have to go to matching panel for them to decide if we're a good match for the boys and then their recommendation goes to the official decision maker. Then we start introductions.
The thing is, the period of time between us officially knowing that we are approved to be parents to these boys and starting introductions is generally really really short. Like 10 days or so. So it makes sense to get ready now. If we wait we'll be running round like headless chickens.
This is easier said than done, however. We know we'll need car seats. So we went to Mothercare to investigate this whole new world of car safety. "How much do they weigh? How tall are they? We can't recommend a car seat until you can tell us that." I asked the social worker. Who has told me their height and weight in October last year and suggested we 'add a bit to that'.
Social workers suggested we investigate schools. Rang our local school. They tell us this would be an in-year transfer so they wouldn't tell us anything and said we needed to get in touch with the Local Education Authority.
The LEA said they wouldn't talk to us until we'd filled in their forms.
We got the forms.
The forms want to know what school the oldest currently attends.
I asked the social worker.
He won't tell us until the boys have been matched with us.
Ho hum.
I actually don't mind if sorting the school thing out takes a bit of time. The oldest doesn't legally have to start school until September anyway. Though he is at school now. I don't think a bit of time together as a family, getting to know one another and bonding will do any harm at all.
Meanwhile, we're buying beds....
The thing is, the period of time between us officially knowing that we are approved to be parents to these boys and starting introductions is generally really really short. Like 10 days or so. So it makes sense to get ready now. If we wait we'll be running round like headless chickens.
This is easier said than done, however. We know we'll need car seats. So we went to Mothercare to investigate this whole new world of car safety. "How much do they weigh? How tall are they? We can't recommend a car seat until you can tell us that." I asked the social worker. Who has told me their height and weight in October last year and suggested we 'add a bit to that'.
Social workers suggested we investigate schools. Rang our local school. They tell us this would be an in-year transfer so they wouldn't tell us anything and said we needed to get in touch with the Local Education Authority.
The LEA said they wouldn't talk to us until we'd filled in their forms.
We got the forms.
The forms want to know what school the oldest currently attends.
I asked the social worker.
He won't tell us until the boys have been matched with us.
Ho hum.
I actually don't mind if sorting the school thing out takes a bit of time. The oldest doesn't legally have to start school until September anyway. Though he is at school now. I don't think a bit of time together as a family, getting to know one another and bonding will do any harm at all.
Meanwhile, we're buying beds....
Tuesday 22 March 2011
Meeting the foster carers....
We met the foster carers. Perfectly pleasant people but it was a bizarre experience. Meeting the current carers of your children is slightly surreal.
We needed to know that the boys are right for us. And that includes, for us, knowing that they don't appear to have massive behavioural or learning issues. Of course, nothing is certain and there are no guarantees, but we needed to know that we're not walking naively into a situation we wouldn't be able to handle. Though on reflection that sounds like a pretty good description of becoming a parent!!
I found the meeting really difficult. Not for any particular reason. It just felt odd. And I'd spent several weeks feeling all maternal and broody in a nice kind of way. Meeting the foster carers and being told about some of the problems they've needed to deal with brought me down to earth with a bit of a bump. I found it very hard and wanted 5 minutes out but couldn't quite work out how to ask for it. Andy was fine with the whole thing.
The boys sound great. And we are going ahead.
We needed to know that the boys are right for us. And that includes, for us, knowing that they don't appear to have massive behavioural or learning issues. Of course, nothing is certain and there are no guarantees, but we needed to know that we're not walking naively into a situation we wouldn't be able to handle. Though on reflection that sounds like a pretty good description of becoming a parent!!
I found the meeting really difficult. Not for any particular reason. It just felt odd. And I'd spent several weeks feeling all maternal and broody in a nice kind of way. Meeting the foster carers and being told about some of the problems they've needed to deal with brought me down to earth with a bit of a bump. I found it very hard and wanted 5 minutes out but couldn't quite work out how to ask for it. Andy was fine with the whole thing.
The boys sound great. And we are going ahead.
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