Preparing for Coming Home

It seems a bit strange that even as I continue gathering items for the trip (still 1 week away), I am also making plans for our first weeks home.

We have Alice's first visit with the pediatrician scheduled (5th day home). Besides making sure that she has all the vaccinations required for school, we also need to get a general assessment of her health and begin the process of determining what tests and/or specialists she will need. She does have some identified special needs, but the diagnosis from China is in question.

We have the first post placement visit with our social worker scheduled (17 days home). It is actually a little late because the rules for China adoptions say the first report is due one month after the adoption. Since we are in China for 11 more days AFTER the adoption we will barely be over the jet lag and getting settled in when we have our first report. Because Alice is older than 10, she is required to write a one page essay about how she feels about the adoption and us. Homework before she even starts school.

I'm sure I will have much more to say about post placement visits down the road. We are required to do 6(!) of them over a period of 5(!) years. Alice will be almost 18 years old when we finish this requirement.

The third important event I've scheduled is for my Chinese tutor to come to the house for a visit the first and second weeks we're home. My plan is to use that time to make sure Alice understands the basics of how we do things in our home, answer her questions about all the new & strange things she is seeing and experiencing, and to make sure she is fully informed about important events like the doctor visit and social worker before they happen. My tutor is also going to come with us to the doctor visit and translate for Alice. I really hope that we can alleviate her fears and avoid misunderstandings due to communication limits those first weeks home.

The one thing I am not scheduling is when she will start school. That remains a big unknown. Until we learn more about her health, temperament, special needs, social needs, current language and education situation and how well she adjusts to her new life decisions about school are on hold. Possible options are to enroll her in the public school before the end of this school year, enroll her over the summer to start in the fall, or possibly homeschool her for a period of time. School will definitely be a topic of conversation with the social worker when she visits. She did our home study visits and DH & I like her a lot and respect her opinions.