Ok...in summary.

I guess it's bad taste to treat your blog like a Twitter or Facebook update. Every blog I read is usually full of agonizingly long soliloquies about life and stuff. And here I went and posted three short blurbs yesterday. Shame on me. Or not.

Here is the long wrap up from yesterday.

We arrived at a bowling alley in Tucson (actually Marana) yesterday morning at 9:15am. We checked in, got our name tags and started wandering around. About 9:30, the children started to arrive. At 9:45, the prospective parents met and went over some ground rules for the event. Total confidentiality. Do not talk about adoption to the kids. Do not favor one child over another. Have a good time.

If you've ever seen Speed Dating on TV, or even participated yourself, it is similar. Each child (or group of children) is assigned a bowling lane. Each parental group is assigned a lane to start from. You interact with the child/children in that lane for about 10 minutes and then rotate to the next lane. That way everyone gets to meet everyone else, and you get to bowl. At least that's how it's supposed to work. Some of the kids want you to bowl with them, and then some of the younger ones just want you to watch while they bowl. You get to chat with them about superficial stuff, and interact on a casual level.

It is really heart-warming to watch what happens during the event. The kids are shy and nervous at the start, but about halfway through they are chatting with everyone and having a great time. After 2 hours of bowling, each child is given tokens and everyone moves to the arcade area for another hour or so of play.

After the event, the parents-to-be meet for a debriefing. We are each given a packet with info on each child, and a interest form. You look through the packet, read a short generic bio of each child, and write down the names of the ones you are interested in. This information is pared with your home-study info and passed along to the case worker for that child.

I also found out that the kids are asked who they liked, too. So you are being graded by them as well. Some of the older ones had notebooks and kept notes on each parent group they met.

If I could, I'd adopt them all. Foster care sucks. While it is necessary, it still is not pleasant.

GET INVOLVED! You have room in your home and heart for one (or more) of these children!