The homestudy is a mandatory part of all adoptions. Social worker comes to your house....asks you questions about why you've chosen to pursue adoption, about your marital relationship, about your child-rearing philosophies....interviews your children....tours your home to ascertain it is fit for raising children.....looks over your financial statements.....etc. The process feels a bit invasive but in the grand scheme of things, necessary for the sake of the adopted child. I was not overly concerned about this meeting but did want to be the best adoptive family that we could be. Husband put together most of the paperwork for this meeting while I cleaned....and cleaned.....and cleaned....I'm talkin' cleaned out the kids' closets cleaned. I was prepared for a detailed inspection. That said, I was a little surprised that our visitor never even left our dining room. She asked about the rest of the house but didn't want the see-it-for-yourself perspective. Ah well. She was very kind...a salt-of-the-earth personality...a person who was easy to talk to. We liked her...which is good because we will interact with her often throughout this process. When she interviewed #1, she asked him what he thought about adding another kid to the family. He said, "I think two kids in a family is really enough". Why thank you #1. When questioned further, he basically dodged any elaboration and ran outside to play soccer. The social worker acted pretty concerned, we were a little concerned and #1 was outside having a great time playing soccer. After talking over his response, we've decided that we have a bit more work to do explaining adoption, talking about Thailand, discussing the future with an additional sibling. I know #1 will be 100% on board...it will just take some time. We are confident that both #1 and #2 will be excellent big brothers!
So, here we are....one step closer to kiddo #3 :)
