[cowboyswife]

UGH! We are just starting this whole thing and I am already going out of my mind with the what ifs! I stayed up most the night last night thinking of things that might go wrong! I just couldn't stop! Things like what if they don't like my house, what if they don't think my dog if friendly (she is 19 years old how bad could she be!), what if the house is not warm enough when she comes in, what if what if what if! I am going crazy! One that I would like to know about is the water. We have well water and need to have it tested. But we don't drink it anyway we use bottled water. If the test comes back bad will they denie us? Even though we have bottled water? Well thanks for letting me get it off my chest I fill better just putting it down so I can see how dumb it looks!

[RavenSong]

Originally Posted by cowboyswife

One that I would like to know about is the water. We have well water and need to have it tested. But we don't drink it anyway we use bottled water. If the test comes back bad will they denie us? Even though we have bottled water?

I highly doubt you would be disqualified for having too much bacteria or other harmful substances in your well-water. If your water test comes back with negative results, you should definitely pay your local drilling company to purify it. Chances are you'll only need to "shock" the well with chlorine.

Even if you only drink bottled water, you really don't want your water system to be contaminated. This can leave you open to skin infections from bathing, etc. And if you have any pets, you really need to be on the watch for giardia - it can makes dogs and cats really sick.

Shocking your well every six months or so is a good idea for all rural landowners. You can either have your local drilling company do it, or you can do it yourself by just using chlorine bleach. If you "Google" residential water wells and disinfection, you'll find some websites that describe how to do it.

[linda512]

Try and relax- easier said than done. The social worker doing the homestudy is not looking for reasons to disqualify you, she is looking to make sure you have thought things through and are not maniacs. None of the things you mention will be a problem or can be addressed. The social worker should be on your side.
Good luck!

[OptingtoAdopt2007]

We just had our home assessment last week...they called Monday morning to tell me they would be coming on Tuesday evening! Now, I work full-time as does DH, DS is in pre-school all day and DDoggie goes to daycare Tues and Thurs. With all this going on my house is not the neatest in the world. Well, it's neat, just not immaculate. My dog is HUGE...great dane mix, very social but intimidating. My son is prone to bring up his penis size at any given time...talk about worry. Anyway, our SW's showed up, the dog had been at daycare so was absolutely exhausted and slept after saying hello, DS led the tour of the house which still wasn't as clean as I would have liked and our visit was over in 45 mins. They looked at each room, asked about size, etc. but the only thing they mentioned was getting one of those thingies to put on the cord pull.

As others have said, they are there to help you succeed in becoming a parent or fosterparent, not deny you that chance. Try not to worry too much about it. They just want to know that you have the space nec. to provide a loving and safe home. Good luck to you.