Clueless

In the blink of an eye, we were on our way to becoming foster/adoptive parents...and let me just say, in our experience becoming foster/adoptive parents was much more difficult than becoming biological parents.

Phillip and I were very blessed that becoming biological parents came easy to us.  It was WHAM BAM THANK YA MAM (if you know what I mean...wink, wink), 9 months of getting fat (or in my case fatter) 6 hours of labor, a couple of nights in the hospital, topped off with a little wheelchair ride to the car.

Then BOOM! Just like that, we were parents!

As we drove off from Baylor Medical Center, Phillip and I literally laughed because we thought if the hospital staff knew how CLUELESS we were, they would have never let us leave with a real, live baby!

It wasn't nearly as easy for us to become foster/adoptive parents!  

First of all, PEOPLE CHECK YOU OUT!

They look at....

Background checks
FBI fingerprints
Physical exams
TB tests
Paycheck stubs
W-2 forms
Pet vaccinations
Auto insurance
Home insurance
Marriage License (although you don't have to be married)
Personal References

That's not all either!  That's just what I remember off the top of my head!

Second of all, YOU GOT TO KNOW STUFF!!!

Here's a few of our training binders and paperwork....It's serious y'all!

Thirty hours of training covering topics such as Rational Detachment, developmental delays, behavior interventions, medication administration, state and federal regulations, etc...

The list could go on and on!   

Oh, and speaking of regulations, one BIGGIE is all knives, guns (INCLUDING NERF GUNS), or weapons of any kind must be locked up!

Let me just show you a picture.  This is how Landon's room looked as we sat and listened to them go over that particular regulation!

Notice his wall!  Nerf guns, air soft guns, knives, and even a machete from Guatemala hung proudly!!! LOL!!!

On top of the thirty hours of training, you also have to complete FORTY hours of observations either in other foster homes or in the shelter at Jonathan's Place.  

Did you know there is a shelter behind the Garland Walmart where foster children live because there aren't enough foster homes?   I didn't!  

I will post about our experience there soon! 

Then of course there are health and fire inspections. We would have FAILED the health inspection miserably had we not been told exactly how to prepare!  I mean clearly from Landon's wall, you can see we had to make some changes!

Lastly, there is a Home Study!  The Grylls' Home Study was special to say the least!!!!!! And yes, I'm being sarcastic....our experience will probably be used in the training called, "What NOT to do during your Home Study"  

I will post about that one later too!

Finally, if you complete all of that, you get one of these...

Our License!

After 12 years of parenting, we became official parents!

The clueless parents who drove off from the hospital with their first baby in the backseat, were exactly the same clueless parents when the CPS worker drove off from their house with their 6 year old in the kitchen!  

No matter the background checks, screenings, trainings, and certificates, we were still thinking, "What in the world are we doing?"