Social Worker

I guess I could say that our meeting was as informative as it could be.  Our social worker is a very sweet woman with a lot of insight and experience with what we are doing.  She had read through our child’s file and was very positive about everything she saw in there and gave us a lot of tips on how to handle the issues that are bound to come up.  She had some great ideas for us to mull over about how to handle her education so we have more things to talk about now.  One idea we discussed that I feel really resonated with both Chad and I was related to grief.  Regardless of how well our transition goes, this child is going to experience the loss of many things and needs to grieve them well to be emotionally healthy.  One great tip she gave us was to talk to her about those things right from the beginning so that she begins to process them before the sad feelings come, (ie the honeymoon period ends) and that she also knows that we are open to and want to talk to her about those things.  We need to show right from the start that where she is from and who she misses is important to us.  One other great tip I have recently gotten was to have large amounts of rice available right from the start.  I had already been thinking about this, but now wonder if I should invest in a rice steamer or put my Goodwill savvy friends on the lookout for one. 

One of the other things that came as a result of our meeting is that our kids each got a questionnaire to fill out as “talking points” for their meeting with her on March 10.  They were so precious as they had to write about what they love best about our family, how they feel about adoption, what they will do to make their new sister feel welcome…Samuel says he is going to hug her.  It was really neat to watch them think about these things and put words to their feelings.  We look forward to having our individual meetings with her this week and then our home visit on March 10.  THEN WE WILL BE FINISHED!  With our part.  Then the hard part starts.  The waiting.  I am praying that God will give me the patience to not go crazy during the wait and will just fill my days with His peace.  I think it will be down time, but if things move as quickly as we anticipate it will be a very busy time of preparation.  Wishing you all a wonderful Sunday.