ok, so our Social Worker (SW) was here from 10 AM- 1 PM. That's a good amount of time!
And let me tell you --for the record-- that all of my fretting, worrying, and tidying the last two weeks has served one purpose and one purpose only: TO PUT MY MIND AT EASE. Our SW was not here to see if there was dust under the bed or if the bathtub was sparkling or if the pantry was tidy. My Mom & Aunt G coming over to clean for a day did wonders, the place looks lovely! Really, it is quite a cozy home, especially when it is CLEAN. But, when all was said and done, the cleanliness and neatness was essential for one thing-- to put my mind at ease, indeed! I was so relaxed... I was able to answer her questions w/ confidence, sometimes w/ a smile, and always w/ the truth. I had not a care in the world.
She was much more concerned w/ us getting a gate for around our wood stove and for Jay locking up his ammo for the guns he never uses (even though the guns are locked up, according to NYS Law, the ammunition must be locked in a separate cabinet)
Much of the visit was conversational, followed by many questions...
questions regarding our beliefs about life and in particular about raising children ...I think we threw her for a loop when we started to articulate our beliefs
questions about religion and if/how we plan to foster our children's religious path... as many of you know, we subscribe to no organized religion, so our response was naturally turned in the direction of spirituality, not religion. I will let you all ponder that one...
questions about discipline... I managed to find my words and distinguish between discipline and behavior management (even though it sounded a bit like I was an educator...hmmm) and she was most impressed with our explanation that discipline is punitive vs. most actions having logical consequences.
Our SW was a down-to-Earth single mother of three adopted children. She had integrity in her words, pride in her job, humility in her own parenting, and enthusiasm in us becoming parents...
The visit concluded w/ her asking if we had any questions. I did! "What is next?" She encouraged us that we are moving along nicely w/ the process. She was thrilled that we had as much done as we do. She strongly encouraged us to get our Immigration paperwork done this week and do our 10 hours of online classes ASAP. Onward!!!
Well, that's all for now...time to go make a mess of the house!!! It's what I better get used to ;]
Over & out...
