Graduation Night

I graduated last night. Yay me! Really, I say that without sarcasm.

Last night marked the completion of 27 hours of foster/adoption parent training. I’ve been happy and excited at the prospect of having a child in my home for the holidays. But it turns out there are a few more hurdles.

Our trainer made it clear that we are not fully licensed foster/adoption families. The next steps are: home-safety inspection, home interview and personal interviews. And because it’s the holiday season, neither of those will probably occur before January.

And in a moment of candidness, our trainer told me that although I’m at the top of the list of parents to be interviewed (because I will accept a teenage child – more about that in another blog) I probably won’t have a foster child before the end of winter. More specifically, the end of February. This is truly a slow, unwieldy process.

This is definitely a lesson in patience, and I can always use more. I’ve demonstrated my commitment to parenting. I’m really trying to keep the faith, but it seems like the department keeps finding ways to stall this process. The latest official-unofficial requirement? I need to be trained in CPR. I don’t resent the requirement, I resent the haphazard, informal way potential parents are informed of the new needs. This requirement is so new, the department has yet to define it.

So I’ll continue waiting.

Last night’s class was great because we had a guest foster parent come speak to us. Mr. ED (name changed) and I met earlier at the first foster parent “happy hour.” He’s been a single, foster parent for 7 years, and last night he revealed more of his challenges. His son is now a teenager, and Mr. ED was candid about learning that his son is sexually active. His response was to give his son a handful of condoms. I wanted to hug him for being progressive! And then he revealed that his son had a pregnancy scare over the summer, and he talked openly about navigating his son through a difficult period.

I’ve tapped him to be my foster parent mentor. He kept repeating: You’ve got to be an advocate for your child. I loved his message and his honesty.