Almost done....

Ok, well, that might be a bit premature to say but we are almost done with the required classes. Saturday morning found us bickering at each other while driving to the group meeting place and realizing that we had not had our coffee and this is our third or fourth weekend in a row (and second class for us with the agency this week) of running around Southern California to these very intense meetings with people whom we have never met.

Ok, enough whining from me.

The topics of these meetings are so in depth and to be discussing with complete strangers is awkward for about 10 seconds and then you are reminded that you are all in the same boat. This class dealt with trans-racial adoption which we are really open to. My step-mother and her family are first generation Vietnamese (Ironically, they have wondered aloud why we aren't going for International adoption- Vietnam, specifically), my mother has been in a relationship with a man who is of middle east descent/Muslim and grew up in the UK. My three closest friends are Hispanic/Latin American and Filipino/Hispanic. Yes, I think we are a diverse bunch. We have a very eclectic family so if the oppourtunity presents itself, we are very open to a trans-racial adoption.

At the beginning of the meeting we had to introduce ourselves and state whether or not we had any children (approx 1/2 of the group has adopted and were taking this class for re-certification). As couples went around the room, there was one real sweet couple that received a baby at 3 weeks and was now at 16 months old and going through the re-unification process. The reality of our situation hit me like a freight train. There is a true risk to what we are doing. Then the anger came down.....so people can abuse drugs/neglect their darlings and do other unspeakable things, we take their child and provide them a safe, loving and positive environment with a huge side of - you might have to give the child back to it's parents. This meeting reminded us both that we will wait until we can find a child whose parents have given or are really close to giving up their rights.

The highlight of the meeting was watching a great documentary/video about a couple who had three bio kids and then adopted 2 Korean children and then an African-American boy, Philip. Philip's sister (one of the bio kids) had 2 bio children and then adopted an Asian boy and an African-American boy. It was a really great story and showed how these parents really tried to give them as much of their heritage and background as possible with the resources they had, at that time and some of the experiences they encountered.

There is something draining yet invigorating about these classes. Yes, I realize I just completely contradicted myself.

So here we are, this is the homestretch. Only a few things left and then our home study will be complete:

Get cars checked
Complete first aid/CPR class
Have Sister-in law and mom get approved to watch child
Last required group meeting is 4/10
Purchase a crib/bed (perhaps one of those 3 in 1 deals)