I just got my official license to parent.   Not exactly what I had envisioned.  My expectation of the home study process was  shaped partially by 30 Rock.   My follow up to the episode “Murphy Brown Lied to Us” would be something like “Liz Lemon lied to us about Murphy Brown Lying”.  

However, as a teacher you don’t say lie but instead someone’s “perception of what happened”.   Liz’ perspective differed from Murphy’s.  I need to see if “Murphy Brown” is available on  Netflix so I can compare myself to strong female fictional characters.

What I Worried About & Never Happened

• There were 0 comments about being single or my dating life.
• There weren’t any inquiries around  mistakes that I felt my parents made that I knew I wouldn’t, or was disillusioned to think I wouldn’t.
• No cabinets or drawers were opened. My fridge remained closed.
• No close inspections of cleanliness.
• No demands of outlet covers or baby gates.
• Nonexistent implications that I must prove myself worthy or good enough.

The most interesting part of my home study came when my brother kept blowing up my phone.  Calling.  Texting.  I thought there must be some emergency since he knew my home visit was happening. Turns out the motion activated camera he set up caught footage of my min pin entering his room, taking a jacket and leaving.  So I had to stop the interview, explain why my brother had a camera set up in his bedroom and go get the coat.

Take away:  Don’t let your fear of the home study get in the way of adopting.   No one is perfect.  People have dogs who steal coats.  People have siblings that they are still living with at 35 that have motion sensor cameras in their rooms.