[Archive]

Originally Posted By Mike

OK, tell me how much of a paranoid fool I am. I am stressing myself out over the home visit part of the homestudy to the point that I cannot sleep at night.

What began as some minor remodelling (fresh paint in a basement room and new carpeting) has started spiraling out of control. Now, I'm rearranging furniture, building shelf units, dusting every book in my library (not a quick task. I even find myself putting thought into which family photos to keep up and which to remove (some of my old relatives look PRETTY dour -- living in Indiana will do that to ya!)

I know I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill, but why am I so STRESSED OUT!?!?

Mike

[Archive]

My husband and I recently had our homestudy done and I also stressed to the point of making sure every toy in the play room was arrranged, refrigerater was cleaned out, etc. It was soooo unnecessary. They are checking to see if you have enough room for a child and a home that is safe. Clean enough to live in is all they expect. If you have a few dishes in the sink, a basket of dirty laundry, a little bit of dust, they don't care. At least that is what my worker said. They just want to know it is an appropriate environment.

So, as easy as it is to get nervous, and you will be until it's over, try to relax. It will be okay!!

[Archive]

Originally Posted By dena

Jay is right, all they want is a safe, livible environment to raise a child, We all get crazy before the homestudy, then we all realize how easy it was. Don't stress, they won't look under your beds, or your kitchen cabinets, they barely look around. Take a few deep breaths and RELAX!

[Archive]

I know the feeling! When my worker came I was so nervous I was sweating. Literally. Sweat was pouring off of my forehead and I was so embarrassed. After about three minutes we settled in and the study went very well. She only made two visits and barely looked at my house. She was checking mainly for the room the child would sleep in, fire extinguishers, and general safety. Her tour of the house lasted all of one minute. Relax, you'll do just fine and then wonder why you were so concerned. As long as you don't have fangs or whips and chains you will pass with flying colors!!

[Archive]

Originally Posted By Mike

Shoot, I forgot to hide the whips and chains!!! (JUST KIDDING!!)

Thanks for the encouragement, guys

[Archive]

Originally Posted By yrand

And I thought we ladies get stressed about getting our nests ready.Hey Mike you don't have to turn into Bob Villa to pass
inspection but if you're having so much fun putting in shelves I could use a bookcase,ha!ha!

[Archive]

In Texas we have to have health, safety and fire inspections. We were given a list of who to call to do foster parent/adoption inspections. I called the health department and the guy was on vacation for 3 weeks so they offered to send another inspector. Like a fool, I said sure (rofl). This inspector does strictly business inspections. He went through every cabinet in my house, my closets, took everything out of my refrigerator and freezer, looked under my beds--yes even under the beds---, removed and checked the oven vent screen, counted the number of cans of leafy green vegetables I had in the cabinets.

He also came four days before he was scheduled to without calling first, and I was babysitting a neighbors three children while she went to the doctor (ages 1,2,3 as well as my own 3 and 4 year old) so I could not even follow him about to answer questions. Thankfully, the only things he found wrong were

1) food stored in freezer for humane consumption in garbage bags-- well they were for canines, not humanes and it was bones for the humane society dogs that the butcher keeps for me and I deliver to them

2) house could use airing --- the visiting children brought a puppy with them and it had an accident while the inspector was there -- I was so embarressed

3) door used for ventilation has no screen --- we don't normally leave the back door open with the air conditioner running but the visiting kids didn't quite see it my way.

4)small hole in back yard that a child could step in and hurt leg/foot --- the kids were digging in the back yard -- hence the hole there (doh) they kept leaving door open while running in and out looking for new digging tools which is why he thought we ventilated the house with it I guess.

When my fost/adopt worker came for home visits after this health inspection, I was petrified, because I expected it to be even more detailed. You would of felt comfortable eating off any floor in my house by the time she arrived. When she was leaving without checking my cabinets, freezer, or under my beds I described my health inspection to her. She laughed so hard she had to sit down. She said, "I told you WHO to call, he is the only one that does foster/adopt inspections."

So yes they COULD come check under your beds Mike, but only if you don't listen to your adoption worker (haha)

I have had a many health inspections since that first one, and they really don't care if your books are dusty or not

[Archive]

Originally Posted By Mike

So, only women get stressed out over cleaning, huh? And I never pictured you the sexist, Ms Rand ; )

An easy bookcase solution: determine where you want the bookcase, take measurements, and drive to Wal-Mart. I did that last night. Now I need to take out the queen size in the future kid's room and put up the single bed. Moving matresses up and down stairs is SUCH a blast.

[Archive]

Originally Posted By Sondra

We just moved into our new home and had to have an inspection done on our new house. Our inspector just looked in the bathroom and said " Yeah...looks ok". Then she went upstairs into our gameroom which was a disaster. My husband had the "surround sound" hooked up but not yet mounted so there was wires everywhere. She just said "I know you guys just moved in and dont plan to leave it that way". Anyway, we passed and our house looked REALLY bad. So dont worry!! The homestudy was the easy part. The hard part was trying to keep my husband awake during the MAPP classes!!

[Archive]

Originally Posted By yrand

Or I could do what we did back in our hippy days with some two
by fours and bricks or milk crates or is that a Federal offense now? Hmmmmm I think they probaly sell them at Wal-Mart
now too.The point is a few dust bunnies under the bed won't
make you fail the inspection.Even my girls caseworker admitted
that she is suspicious when a house is too clean which is probaly why she loves the foster home because it was always a
wreck.

[Archive]

Originally Posted By Keagan

I too have been remodeling, and still am. As you guys have already gather the state of New Mexico is infamous for finding demons under every rock, so I was walking into this thing TOTALLY PARANOID!!!!

Now the clincher, the day before the homestudy was to happen, my housekeeper of three years quits on my, unaware of the homestudy. I FREAKED!!!!! I do not do windows, floors, beds, kitchens, you name it. A housekeeper for me is right up there with utilities.

By the time I reschedule home study, the flippo-caseworker had already decided, "I was up to something". I was tempted to buy low-rider mags with the bikini chicks and place them around the house to prove I was straight. After I fired the state of New Mexico, I got a real agency, and the home inspection was enjoyable.

From what you've said Mike, they want you so badly they would certify if you lived in a dumpster.

Forward me the URL's of the kids you're considering, if they're on the web. I looked at the Indiana sight and saw that there are a lot of boys in your range. NOW REMEMBER THIS MIKE AND EVERYBODY ELSE, THE KIDS WHO ARE OUT ON THE WEB, ESPECIALLY ARE USUALLY THE REALLY DIFFICULT TO PLACE CHILDREN. That doesn't stop me, but you should be aware that after you get online with the caseworker, you might be connected with children not listed.

(what did that have to do with home inspections, doesn't stop me :-)

[Archive]

Originally Posted By Jerry

I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time, but it sounds like something we expected to happen at our inspection!!!!! We live in a rural area, out in the woods, the boonies etc. When you live in the country you have a lot of EITHER mice or snakes. I'm allergic to cats, but we have three "outside" cats (who constantly sneak inside grrrrr). Now, even with the natural predator of the mouse standing a constant vigil for all the we hold dear ( a vermon free home) we still occasionally get one of the little buggers inside!! That is one of the items they check for here is mice or evidence of mice because there's so many.

Our brand new five bedroom house should be ready to move into by the end of the week (hopefully)..............BUT before we can officially move in we have to have another health inspection. The health inspector is only in our county on wednesdays, so we'll wait a week..........er..maybe....before we move in..............But let me tell you it will be clean.....

[Archive]

Originally Posted By Kandee

Mike we are from Indiana too. Our homestudy started back in June I was a nervous wreck by the day it was time for our sw to arrive. Once she arrived while talking to me our cat decided he wanted some attention from the sw only to tell me she was allergic to cats so I had to shut both cats up in a seprate room then disturbing our dogs they began to bark so we continued to talk with the dogs barking and the cats meowing they wanted out of the room they are not use to being shut up in a room.
But the visit went very well with our 9 yr old daughter running in and out the house with her friend.LOL
It took all of 5 minutes for the sw to walk through the house making notes on the bedrooms what type of furniture were in the rooms that the kids would be sleeping making sure we had beds and dressers and enough space to accomodate children in our home.

So dont worry everything will be fine.

[Archive]

Originally Posted By Mike

Hey Keagan:

Maybe I will need some of those biker chick magazines to project the "Normal Guy" image. I've actually been careful to avoid any "objectionable" images. (I know, paranoid again). In fact, I removed a framed photo of Janis Joplin from the wall of my home office (all that Ms J was wearing was a LOT of love beads. Not obscene, but didnt want to chance it). She's been replaced by a photo of John XXIII that used to sit on a bookcase in my den.

I loved the comment about living in a dumpster. My cleaning lady is supposed to start next month, so that will be a load off my mind. I don't mind cleaning, I just hate certain tasks: doing floors and windows especially.

One thing that's going to be really interesting is how my animals behave. My dog is very friendly and never jumps on people, but he is BIG (165 pounds) and sometimes doesnt know his own strength. (You dont want him to crash into you on a dead run). Ocar the Psyco-parrot will also be a treat. Normally, he is out of his cage (wings are clipped, so no flying). However, he is going to be caged up when the worker comes. He's gonna be PI****D! I can just hear us trying to talk while the parrot screams bloody murder. At least he's in my home office, far from the living room or family room where we can talk.

Thanks for the advice. I'll let you know of any boys on the listing I inquire about. I don't plan to inquire till after the HS and the holidays are done, though.

[Archive]

We have a 200 pound Great Dane and from the day we started fostering I was terrified to let any of the workers see him. Well, eventually one of my little foster children begged to get the dog out of his crate (I always crated him when a worker was coming) and how could I say no in front of the worker? So, this 30 pound child proceeds to come out with the 200 pound dog and tell him to lay down and then sat on him. The dog never moved and the child sat on the dog and held a conversation with us as though he was seated at the table in a chair. After that, I figured "why hide him?" and left him out. So far, all the workers have absolutely loved him and one of them even talked her husband into going out and buying a Great Dane puppy.

When we started the adoption homestudy I was once again thinking it was time to crate the dog. Well, she was about fifteen minutes early and I hadn't crated him yet. When I saw her at the door I immediately put him in a "down stay" so that he wouldn't move. She just kind of rushed right by the kids and I to pet the dog. She played with him during most of the homestudy.

Guess the whole point is that our fears are often groundless and maybe I need to give these people a little more credit than what I give them. If I know my dog is perfectly safe around children, then I guess I need to just leave him out even if his size may be somewhat intimidating.

Hopefully, your "psycho bird" will be on his best behavior just like my dog was! Also, often times I think animals are great with these kids as when they need someone to talk to and aren't ready to open up to us, they talk to the dog. He seems to be a wonderful "therapy dog".