So, with the house mostly ready, we waited for the woman from the adoption agency to arrive for our first meeting. She arrived with questions and forms.
Some of the questions we'd already been over in our telephone conversation, some were new. What was our goal? Why did we want to adopt? Etc. But mostly she went over forms.
There was the form to authorize background checks.
The form for getting ourselves fingerprinted.
The Individual Self Study Form -- more on that in a moment.
References
A checklist for what all we'll have to do to the house to qualify (and she wanted to see the bedroom spaces we had available).
And another form.
This one, she said, not every couple/person had to fill out. It was from the agency saying that they could not guarantee us anything by us going through the process. It also stated that they could not be a party to any legal action against the state that might result from our going through the process. An innocuous enough form, but already something unique to us as a same-sex couple.
In going over the stuff about the house is when I started to withdraw a little. I greatly dislike rules (I believe they do not exist; have not metaphysical status), especially stupid rules. Bureaucracies create rules instead of being guided by common sense, shared practices, the flexibility that must be used to judge each situation on its own merits. On some level, my dander was getting up.
All household cleaning products must be in a locked cabinet, recommended a keyed lock. Michael is encouragingly agreeing and saying nice things. I'm getting quiet and thinking, "This is stupid. When we were kids, we didn't get into such things because we were told not to." And I'm realizing that this process is not going to be easy for me.
"I assume there aren't any firearms in the house?"
"There is one. My great-great-grandfather's antique gun."
"Is it locked?"
"No, it is a decorative item. It is purposely on display."
"I don't think there will be any exceptions."
This despite not having any ammunition in the house. That gun hasn't been fired for almost 30 years, and even then it was a rare occasion.
After a little more of this is when the lady said, "Scott, you are looking pensive."
-- Scott
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