Forms Forms and more FORMS!!

We sent in our application the WACAP and were so excited to get started. Then we got the paperwork and our excitement was dimmed. We have been working on forms for weeks now and still have a long ways to go. To be clear, we are NOT complaining. I think it’s wonderful that they are so thorough in the process of clearing potential Foster Parents, we just had no idea what we were truly getting in to!

When we first opened the folder we thought oh this isn’t so bad. It had a few charts and “tool kit maps” about the process.  Then we started reading and got completely overwhelmed. Included was a disc with pages and pages of forms! I think the best advice we have at this stage is to breathe.  Yes it is a lot of work but it will be worth it. Just make a game plan and slowly work your way though. Everything will be okay! We decided we were going to do one form a day till we finished. That was a great plan until we got to forms with 9 pages of in depth personal questions. We then changed our game plan to 2 hours a day.

During this process lots of memories both good and bad have been brought to the front of our mind. We have parenting issues and possible solutions running through our head 24/7. I can see why they have potential adoptive parents go through all of this. Several questions brought up issues we knew nothing about. We have spent hours and hours researching various forms of discipline, education, and how to a comfort a children who have ben through emotional or physical trauma. We are feeling very well informed. Of course you can’t be prepared for everything, but we certainly have a plan of action for many situations. This will only make dealing with them easier when/if the time comes.

After starting this process I realized it would have been really helpful if I had someone to dumb down the process for me beforehand. That way the overwhelming feeling we felt when we opened our packet could have been avoided or at least lessened. I have decided to detail the process and our experience for future potential adoptive or foster parents.  I realize not everyone reading this will be interested in that. For this purpose, I created a new page at the top of my blog.