adoption training day 1 & 2

Hello...

So We have had the first two days of our adoption training course. We'd both read numerous blogs and articles about them and others views on it.. They all seemed to say that it was very tiring and emotionally draining... 

Well Day One:
We had introductions of the SWs there and also the adopters, however they didn't actually get us to and all the others there to, so we spent the morning sitting there not really knowing who was there or what stages they were at in the process... So we did a bit of a quiz on random adoption facts and then had some information on where the children come from, which envolved looking at a few photos of houses that were typical of neglect and such... We then had a break and managed to actually have a chat to some of the other couples who were there and that was good. After this break I can't remember what it we actually spoke about (it was that interesting obviously). The afternoon we had a visit from someone who spoke very briefly about fetal alcohol syndrome and an even smaller bit about mental health problems (and some of her facts were so wrong I felt like screaming at her) after this everyone in the group was a bit like 'oh I'm so tired, early night for us before tomorrow' however Hubby and I looked at each other and were like 'what??'. In the car on the way home we were saying that it felt like we hadn't done anything all day and it was less stressful than a day at work... Anyway we went home and then played D&D and killed off some bad guys... 

Day Two:
We actually were one of the first to get there, which kinda shocked us given that we were coming from the furthest point away.. granted not as far as the couple from the next city along (who have also been along the same sort of path as we have) but anyway we went in and moved seats (much to everyone shock) and sat down ready for the next day. We started off with a session on attachment which was very interesting and informative, it actually answered some questions and raised others which we asked so it was good. We then spoke a bit about eh adoption process, which is when we learnt where each couple is on the pathway and well there are people who are literally right at the beginning and have only just done the application, and then there are a few couples who are off to panel at the end of april beginning of may... We then had one of the independent reviewing officers come in and give us a brief run down on their job and how we will see them during the process at reviews and things.. We then had an afternoon of people who had already adopted telling us their stories but also answering our questions which were very useful and also very informative, it helped put my mind at ease which was good, so I'm glad that they were there..  it was a bit more draining than the first day but we still managed to get home and do the mountain of things we needed to do, including finishing our financial statement for the SW... We also went out for a meal which was nice...

We've got two more days next week and then we are off on honeymoon so next week will be hectic.. got work the next three nights as well so shall probably not update again until sunday =(