Month 7
Well…. shall we wait to the end of the diary or shall we tell you right now??? OK then – we got approved at our panel!!!!!
How excited and pleased were we??!!!!
Our lovely friends Michelle and Tom kindly took us to the agency for our panel meeting and we can honestly say we were not at all nervous. We had had a great few days in Bournemouth and felt totally relaxed. We knew we couldn’t change anything about our Form F and we felt very encouraged by what Chris had written and knew we had to be positive about ourselves – so we were!!
We got to the office (via MacDonald’s for a sausage MacMuffin!!) and met Chris for a chat and a cup of tea. After a while we were met by the Chairperson of the panel and were told they were ready for us. She did explain some of the questions that would be asked, but these were nothing unexpected as Chris had given us some idea of what would be discussed. Chris was not asked to enter panel before us as sometimes happens, so we all went in together.
We were met by the ten panel members who all introduced themselves to us. Then the questions began!! If you asked us now to tell you what questions they asked, we could not tell you – it all seems a blur!!
I think we waffled a bit. My neck came out in a rash and the panel members laughed at some of our answers!!! All in all though, the whole experience was not as bad as we thought. The panel members are human beings who are doing their job, and at the end of the day they know what they are doing and have to be 100% sure they approve the right people.
Before the panel we were asked to make a scrapbook with pictures of our house, garden, close friends and family etc. I was in my element with this – I bought glue, gel pens, sticky bits and bobs and a cuddly toy giraffe that we called Billy! We proceeded to take photos with Billy in and wrote the book from Billy himself.
The reason for this being that when our children are placed with us, they can meet Billy and we can carry the scrapbook forward with photos of Billy and the children in it. The book was passed around the panel members and they seemed to like this, so that helped too.
When all the questions had been asked we were asked to leave the room and were told that we would be told of their recommendation shortly. Chris stayed in the room with the panel members. We then had to wait for five minutes (which seemed like five hours!!) before Chris, Graham and the Chairperson came and told us their recommendation. We were told the final decision would be made by the Director within the next few days.
We were so pleased and wanted to run back in the panel and thank everyone in turn, but could only thank the Chairperson, Graham and, of course, Chris.
Chris then sat us down and we were told that the recommendation was unanimous and very positive. We were approved for two children aged between 0 and 6. The panel thought we could cope with more but Jeremy just looked at me and said two is fine for now thank you!
We then had a chat with Chris about three sets of children we had seen in the monthly publications and she then set to work finding out details for us.
The rest of the day was spent with Michelle and Tom and ringing and texting our excited friends and family. I even called Australia from my mobile – can’t wait for the bill for that call!! In the evening we went out for a meal with our great friends Julie and Darren.
The two children we mentioned last month are already in the process of being placed with their new family so that was a shame but we were still very excited about the three sets we had told Chris about.
Chris called us a week later and told us she had spoken to the Social Workers for all the children. She was so honest and we respect totally what she told us. Out of the three sets chosen, only one set would be suitable for us. The other two sets of children had serious issues that Chris didn’t feel were appropriate for us. Anyway, to cut a long story short Chris has been in talks with the ‘chosen’ children’s social worker and our Form F has been sent to her.
As yet, that is as much as we know but are hoping it’s not too long before we find out if we have been short listed for the next stage – a bit like X Factor without the singing!!!
More good news – we bought our caravan. Jeremy is collecting it this weekend. It is so cool and we can’t wait to start camping! We have been busy buying bits for it – microwave (handy for kids teas!!), an awning, chairs, tables, bike racks etc etc.
The adoption card website is all ready to go and we intend to launch this week commencing Monday 7 t November – National Adoption Week.
We visited our link family the other day too. They are a great couple and we had a really good chat with them. They told us their honest story of their adoption journey and it was good to hear it from other people. We are keeping in touch and plan to visit them again soon and meet their children.
That’s it for now, but to say we are happy, excited, nervous and apprehensive is an understatement!
Clare and Jeremy
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