Adoption Class

Last night was my official last class in PS-MAPP, it was on Adoption. We had a guest speaker come and talk to us. She was adopted when she was 3 months. She explained her experience, she has 4 other adopted brothers/sisters. She went over why and how she searched for her birth family and her experience with that.

It was a good class, really went over the reality of those wanting to adopt from the State and how the process works, the financial aspect, and the legal component. It was eye opening.

I'm not looking to go straight into adoption. I am going to be licensed for Foster care for two children from 5-14 years of age. However, I took the adoption class just in case I have children in my care and they become eligible for adoption - I will have the option to pursue adoption and not have to take the class later.

There is some stuff going on with the State of Arizona where they are trying to make it where preference is giving to married couples for adoption and trying to eliminate/make it hard for single persons to adopt. I think that's a horrible mistake for the State and that it will cost them more money in the long run. I'm going to look into it more and see if I can write my State representatives.

Next week I have my home inspection from OCLR. I also have CPR class. After that, one more home visit from my agency. Then - I'm completely done with the licensing process. There is still some outstanding paper work that is out of my control, that we have to wait for. Only two items - so should come in during March sometime. After I'm licensed I'm going to take some additional classes that they offer at my agency. There is a requirement to take a certain number of classes to get your license renewed from year to year.

PS-MAPP: Last Official Class

Officially finished the PS-MAPP series :) It was a good last class. I feel really good about the training and feel as prepared as I can be without having direct experience. With the three day weekend coming up, I'm looking forward to getting the house in tip-top shape to meet all inspection requirements. My inspection will be sometime next week. I'm also going to go shopping for misc stuff that I need for the kid's room, blankets, waste basket, laundry basket, etc. Which also means clearing out those closets! I don't have much in there, but there's a significant amount of stuff I've been hoarding. I'm going to take the time to go through everything and hopefully "cleanse" myself of all the junk that's not really necessary. Or at least put them in categories, so I can work on projects later on.

I'm very excited about this journey. I'm thinking I'll be open to take kids in April. Might as well go for it! Everyone is telling me I should go on vacation first. Maybe they're right. I still have time to decide. Next week is adoption class, then the week after that is CPR class. I'm looking forward to my Wednesday nights being free again! Wed is a tiring day on its own, it's when my energy starts to plummet from the week.

Last PS-MAPP Documents

I feel like I'm behind on all the paperwork for PS-MAPP! I'm not really, there's just a lot of end of class stuff to get done. I have 2 final documents to complete, but I might have to wait till tomorrow to get to them.

Tomorrow is officially the last class for foster care. I am going to be attending next week's class that's on adoption - which is optional. I'd rather get it done now, just in case I do end up adopting through the foster care system - which would be required at that time.


Here's what's left:

• OLCR Home Inspection - which should be scheduled for next week sometime. I'm getting the house in tip-top shape and to code by the end of the 3-day weekend. 
• Vehicle and Licensing Specialist home inspection (after OLCR home inspection). 
• CPR Class - scheduled for 3/2/11 

Some paperwork:

• Waiting for my last reference to return the documents. 
• Waiting for California to return my background check. 

If everything goes well, I should be all good to go by the end of March officially. As long as all the paperwork (not in my control) goes smoothly. I am still contemplating if I should hold off on being available to take children until June... But I'm opting to just be ready once everything is done and just go with it. I still have a few more weeks to decide.

Tomorrow is officially our "graduation" day! We're having a potluck. Going to bring a chicken platter. Should be fun. Weird to have spent so much time with my classmates and see them every week to go to not seeing them! j

PS-MAPP: My 2 Hour Interview

I had my 2 hour interview last week with my licensing specialist. I promised myself I wouldn't get emotional! The interview is a tool for them to use to write your home study and you have to reveal all these personal details about your life. It's a bit intimidating since it's all going to be put out there, on paper, in a report!

It was a bit odd talking about my past. I didn't have the best childhood or upbringing. My relationships are very strained with my parents and with my brothers. I felt like I was talking about someone else when I was telling my story and all that I went through. Why the relationships are the way they are today. How the relationships were when I was growing up. How I've dealt with it.

I was completely honest about my life, how I was, how we lived. It felt so surreal. I'm so over all the issues of the past, I didn't even cry or get emotional talking about it. That's really different than where I was even a year ago. I teared up when I was talking about my older brother and how we built our sibling relationship from what it was growing up. I love my big brother and we worked really hard to become friends. It's something I am proud of and something I cherish. I also teared up when I spoke about my Uncle Ben and Auntie Bessie - how they are my adopted family and if it weren't for them, I'm not so sure my older brother and I would've turned out as well as we did.

From my interview, I realized a few things.

1. I grew up in a similar situation as some of the foster kids. 
2. I experienced a lot of the loss that foster kids go through. 
3. I can relate to the foster kids because I acted out exactly like they do. 

I know I was never taken away from my dad growing up. I'm actually surprised that I wasn't! We had the cops over on so many instances because of all the fighting and screaming. I didn't really have anyone to help me through life or support me. Much of my childhood tantrums and acting out was related to my lack of routine, lack of attachment to adults, lack of supervision, etc.

One thing my specialist asked me was: what motivated me to push to graduate High School, what support I have. Quick background: I almost didn't graduate HS with my class. I got involved with the wrong crowd, dropped out of school, failed classes. It was bad. My counselor had told me I had no hope to graduate on time. I didn't listen, ended up going to night school on top of regular school, also went to adult school. Long story short, with a lot of late nights and hard work I did end up graduating with my class - on time.

My answer to her question was I didn't have anyone supporting me or pushing me to graduate. No one cared. I was determined to do it, so I did it. Mostly to "prove them wrong" and because  I didn't want to be a statistic or have people gloat that I couldn't make it.

Anyways, the interview was very deep - opened up my memory to my childhood. Not that I've forgotten. I can never forget. But what I notice is how everyone tries to sugar coat the past. They try to make it seem better than it was. I turned out OK, which means my childhood wasn't that bad, right?  That's not true, that's not how my life was. I won't fall into that. The past can't be re-written. It was what it was. I have come to peace with it and have gained a lot from my trials. However, I won't act like it was something it wasn't.

In the end, I truly do believe that I was meant to travel that path so that I can be who I am today. So that I can be on this journey to become a foster mom and help children through a hard stretch in their lives. I'm really excited about it and am a little scared... I'm graduating next week from class! I still have my home inspection to go through and CPR class. If I push through, I can have a placement as soon as April.

I decided on ages 5-14. I can take up to 2 kids right now. I'm hoping to get a sibling group. Almost there...

Catching Up

OK... So, I've lost track of blogging! I mentioned I wasn't a blogger, right?! LOL. I'm graduating next week from MS-MAPP class! Yes, it went by so very fast. I've decided I'm going to close up this blog and start a new blog that encompasses all my life stuff and possibly make it private on an invite only status... Just thinking about it, not sure yet. Wish I can catch up on everything. In one sentence: The MS-MAPP class has been a wonderful asset for me. I really am looking forward to becoming a foster parent.