Stahlke Adoption

Elaboration

We met with Wendy, our social worker, for two hours yesterday. It was actually her first time to see our house with almost no cleanup, since we've had a very full week of other activities. The smoke detectors and water temperature were acceptable, and we found out that as of January 1, all foster homes must have carbon monoxide detectors within 15 feet of each bedroom. We'll be adding some to our supply soon.

We did get caught again, however, on boxes in the upstairs hall, which is close to the children's bedrooms. The boxes mostly contain Christmas decorations and luggage that are waiting to enter the crawl space (our version of an attic). But there are so many toys in front of the crawl space door that I haven't been encouraged at all to put the boxes away. We've always made sure, however, that there is adequate walking space down the center of the hall, so I didn't understand why Wendy was so concerned.

She explained to us, which makes sense, that if there is a fire at night, all electric lights would likely be out. If a child is trying to find their way down a hall in the dark, they would not walk straight. Instead, they would probably be using their arms to feel their way and could knock over anything that is loose (like our boxes). Their way out of the house might then be slowed down, or worse, completely blocked, at a time when speed is of the essence.

One other clarification from my last post--
Adoptive parents are not required to have a licensed foster home as long as both parents travel overseas for the adoption. Most couples do plan to travel together. But occasionally either the mother or the father becomes ill at the last minute and cannot travel. If only one of two parents travel, the paperwork for the U.S. government requires that the home be licensed as a foster home. Therefore, to cover all the bases, Wendy advises all her adoptive parents to get their home licensed.

posted by Stahlkes @ 3:10 PM