So here's how the conversation went during our adoption worker's visit to our home on Friday:
Caseworker (reading from a checklist): Are the floors clear of boxes and other items?
Us: Yes.
Dallin: Not all the time! Sometimes there's lots of stuff on the floor!
Caseworker: Are the counters and other areas free of clutter?
Us: Yes.
Dallin: Lots of times there's stuff on them!
CW: Are the carpets and floors clean and free of stains?
Us (feeling really glad we had carpet cleaners come this week): Yes.
Dallin: Not usually! They're usually really dirty!
CW: So tell me about the things you like to do with your children.
Me: um....
Dallin (interjecting): My mom NEVER plays with me!
Gee, kid, do you want a little brother or sister or not???
Having a child this old at a home visit was a trip! We kept him occupied by asking him to go count all the rooms in our house, which was the caseworker's first question. Then we had him go look at all the staircases to see if they had handrails (even though we knew they did).
I, however, had the biggest faux pas of the day. Earlier that morning my sister-in-law, L, had called me to say that her neighbor had just had a home visit and the caseworker had been very picky about the state of their home. That surprised me, because we've had three prior home visits and none of them have been a big deal. But nevertheless, I got more than bit nervous, which meant that I spent a good part of the afternoon tromping around in the mud in the backyard pulling weeds and picking up stray trash that had blown in. (We'd had snow and rain all week, and hadn't been able to get to all the winter junk that had accumulated.) I also ran to Home Depot to buy a locking toolbox for our medicines.
Anyway, when our caseworker walked in the door, she asked me how things were going. Without thinking, I immediately blurted out, "I'm so nervous! My sister-in-law's neighbor had a home visit earlier today and the caseworker was extremely picky and basically white-gloved their house!" "Hmmm," our caseworker said thoughtfully. "What was the name of the couple?" When I told her, she got a really sheepish grin on her face and said, "I was that caseworker."
Luckily, we all had a good laugh about it, and she assured us that there had been some other issues going on, and we had nothing to worry about. (Though we do have to fix a few things before we can be passed, but it's no big deal--a window well cover, some fire extinguishers, etc.) After she went through the house, she told me it was spotless. If only she had seen it a week ago, before I did myself in cleaning and scrubbing. Is it really possible that almost every single wall in the entire house had either crayon, pen, or pencil marks on it? And after I scrubbed all those walls, Sariah went behind me and colored on more walls and cabinets?
I can't believe we've made it this far! It's taken us almost 14 months (since our intake) to get to this point. Can I hang in there long enough to create a website to market us? I sure hope so.
Caseworker (reading from a checklist): Are the floors clear of boxes and other items?
Us: Yes.
Dallin: Not all the time! Sometimes there's lots of stuff on the floor!
Caseworker: Are the counters and other areas free of clutter?
Us: Yes.
Dallin: Lots of times there's stuff on them!
CW: Are the carpets and floors clean and free of stains?
Us (feeling really glad we had carpet cleaners come this week): Yes.
Dallin: Not usually! They're usually really dirty!
CW: So tell me about the things you like to do with your children.
Me: um....
Dallin (interjecting): My mom NEVER plays with me!
Gee, kid, do you want a little brother or sister or not???
Having a child this old at a home visit was a trip! We kept him occupied by asking him to go count all the rooms in our house, which was the caseworker's first question. Then we had him go look at all the staircases to see if they had handrails (even though we knew they did).
I, however, had the biggest faux pas of the day. Earlier that morning my sister-in-law, L, had called me to say that her neighbor had just had a home visit and the caseworker had been very picky about the state of their home. That surprised me, because we've had three prior home visits and none of them have been a big deal. But nevertheless, I got more than bit nervous, which meant that I spent a good part of the afternoon tromping around in the mud in the backyard pulling weeds and picking up stray trash that had blown in. (We'd had snow and rain all week, and hadn't been able to get to all the winter junk that had accumulated.) I also ran to Home Depot to buy a locking toolbox for our medicines.
Anyway, when our caseworker walked in the door, she asked me how things were going. Without thinking, I immediately blurted out, "I'm so nervous! My sister-in-law's neighbor had a home visit earlier today and the caseworker was extremely picky and basically white-gloved their house!" "Hmmm," our caseworker said thoughtfully. "What was the name of the couple?" When I told her, she got a really sheepish grin on her face and said, "I was that caseworker."
Luckily, we all had a good laugh about it, and she assured us that there had been some other issues going on, and we had nothing to worry about. (Though we do have to fix a few things before we can be passed, but it's no big deal--a window well cover, some fire extinguishers, etc.) After she went through the house, she told me it was spotless. If only she had seen it a week ago, before I did myself in cleaning and scrubbing. Is it really possible that almost every single wall in the entire house had either crayon, pen, or pencil marks on it? And after I scrubbed all those walls, Sariah went behind me and colored on more walls and cabinets?
I can't believe we've made it this far! It's taken us almost 14 months (since our intake) to get to this point. Can I hang in there long enough to create a website to market us? I sure hope so.
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