I had my first Weight Watchers weigh-in on Wednesday, and I was really hoping for a huge loss my first week.
I lost 2.4 pounds! I’ll take it!
Deuces
January 27, 2012 1 Comment
A Phone Call
January 26, 2012 4 Comments
Well, finally some progress.
Yesterday, I got an email from our caseworker and she’s finishing up our paperwork for approval. She included one final task for us to complete, and it was a doozy.
Mark and I had to sit down together and make some big choices– what behaviors and disorders we would be willing to consider when a child is placed with us.
Here goes:
For each of these, we had to check “Willing to Consider” or “Will Not Consider”:
Behaviors:
Abusive/Aggressive to Others, Accident Prone, Bed Wetting, Cheating, Cling to Adults, Cruel to Animals, Destructive to Property, Fighting, Frequently, Fire Setting, Harmful to Self, Hyperactivity, Impulsivity, Lying, Nightmares, Obscene Language, Phobias, Running Away, Sexual: Masturbation, Sexual: Provocative with Adults, Sexual: Provocative with Child, Sexual: Sexually Active, Soiling, Stealing, Temper Tantrums, Truancy, Withdrawal
Emotional/Mental:
Adjustment Disorders, Antisocial/Other Personality Disorders, Attachment Disorders, Autism, Bipolar Disorder/Manic Depression, Conduct Disorder, Delusions, Depression, Gender Identity Disorder, Panic/Anxiety Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Schizophrenia, Separation Anxiety Disorder, Sleep Disorder, Suicide Ideation Attempts
Neuro/MusuloSkeletal:
Alzheimer’s, Arthritis, Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy/Seizures, Multiple Sclerosis, Orthopedic Problems, Paralysis, Physical Handicaps, Parkinson’s Disease, Spina Bifida
AIDS/HIV/STDs:
AIDS, HIV+, Venereal Diseases
Eating/Digestive Disorders:
Anorexia, Bulimia, Digestive Disorders, Feeding Problems, Hoards/Gorges Food
Respiratory Problems:
Allergies, Asthma, Chronic Bronchitis, Cystic Fibrosis
Heart/Blood Problems:
Heart Defect, Heart disease, Hemophilia, High Blood Pressure, Sickle Cell Trait, Sickle Cell Anemia
Physical Problems:
Birthmarks, Cancer, Cleft Lip, Diabetes, Growth Disorders, Hearing Problems, Liver Problems, Paralysis, Prematurity, Problems Requiring Surgery, Vision Problems, Blindness
Learning Problems:
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Down’s Syndrome, Learning Disabilities, Mental Retardation, Slow Learner
Substance Abuse/Use:
Alcoholism, Drug Abuse (soft), Drug Abuse (hard), Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), Fetal Alcohol Effect (FAE), Prenatal Drug Exposure, Tobacco Use
Developmental Delays:
Fine Motor, Gross Motor, Social, Speech/Language, Sensory Integration Disorder
Abuse/Neglect:
Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Medical Neglect, Physical Neglect, Shaken Baby Syndrome
In addition to all of this, we also had to answer the following:
1. What types of foster placements are we willing to accept? Long-term, short-term, or urgent placements?
2. Are we willing to be respite providers?
3. How many children are we willing to accept at any one time? (Sibling groups, etc)
4. What gender are we looking for?
5. Finally, there was the race issue. Just so you everyone knows, the caseworkers are not allowed to ask you if you have a racial preference in a child. If you have any preferences, then you have to say so. They won’t ask you.
Last night, Mark and I went through the whole list of behaviors and disorders, etc. We each filled out our checklist separately, then compared answers. I was very thankful that we agreed on all but about 5 of them. We discussed those and came to a unified decision and I sent everything back in this morning.
Our caseworker hopes to have everything completed by the end of the day today.
TODAY!
Round Two
January 25, 2012 2 Comments
Pin itI am starting this (again) on February 1st. If anyone would be interested in joining me, you can join my group HERE.
Thirty-Four
January 24, 2012 1 Comment
Pin itOur final homestudy visit was done thirty-four days ago. THIRTY. FOUR. And nothing has happened since. I feel like we are stuck in this rut, a stagnant pool of just plain old WAITING. There is nothing more we can do on our end, except sit and wait on caseworkers and government employees to make [...]
Check
January 23, 2012 Leave a Comment
Pin itAnother one of my criteria can be checked off the list. 5. I like being handed a church bulletin chocked full of activities– small groups, bible study, kids functions, women’s luncheons, etc At church on Sunday, we were handed a bulletin, and THIS was stuck inside I can’t wait to see how we grow [...]
How Will I Ever be Able to Do This?
January 20, 2012 7 Comments
Pin itUp until now, I never really thought about the state calling us about accepting a foster child placement. I pretty much knew in my head what questions we would ask, the information we would want. And of course I know the specifics of the child we are looking for. But what happens when you [...]
