Help please re: matching

[MissFenella]

SW came over today and just dropped into the conversation that they have changed the timetable for meeting our adoptees. They have added an extra 2 weeks onto the timetable.

We have had this discussion before. The FC wanted the girls to move mid October, to fit with their half term and so they could have an early birthday party. We obviously want them here asap but being pragmatic suggested the start of the month. We then got confirmation that the agreed plan was for 1st October. (All of this considering they should have been here from mid sept - but FC booked a holiday and necessitated respite for the girls...)

Today we have been told, its not going to be before mid October at the earliest (ie going with the FC preferred options). The agreed plan wasn't a plan blah de blah.

We being gullible idiots have structured our adoption leave around what was agreed! It such a pain and I genuinely feel that this is to dance to FC tune rather than what is best for the girls.

I doubt we have any authority to change things but does anyone have any advice or failing that could cheer me up a bit?

[Italiangreyhound]

2old2beamum just read your post above, am so sorry for your loss, you sound like an amazing mum.

MissFenella how is it going? Christmas can be a very stressful time for all families, so hope yours was OK and if not, at least it is over. My 2013 be a fabulour year for you and your family.

And for all of us.

[Cheltenhamgirl]

hello just wanted to check how it was going for you? We are at the start of the process and I know it's going to be a long and hard road. We have no children so this will be our first if we get approved.

[2old2beamum]

I am so glad things are getting better every day. For some reason I found it hard to bond with our 4th adopted DC. Over a year post adoption he was very ill and was waiting to go to theatre for neurosurgery. I suddenly burst into tears as I realised how much I loved him. We were joined at the hip until he died 8years later. The love for your DC's is there but you haven't realised it.
This is not a sad post I loved him so much it was worth it.

[Kewcumber]

Its a bit like moving a man that you quite like the look of and have met a couple of times into your home and spending 24/7 with them! You'd expect it to be a bit stressful, wouldn't you?

Glad to hear its getting a bit better every day. One of the things that kept me going was that each week just seemed to get better and better (though to be fair not every day as I still had ups and downs) but each week was identifiably better than the week before.

[MissFenella]

Getting better every day!

Thanks for your kind words

[WendyGx]

MissFenella, so please to hear its going in the right direction.
KristinaM, thanks you've made me really, really, think from the child's point of view in the first few days. I appreciate your honesty.

[Italiangreyhound]

Missfenella all the very best, keep going and enjoy the bits you can. It sounds like things are going well and you are getting lots of good advice and tips on here. Just wanted to wish you well.

[KristinaM]

I'd be worried if you thought you were bonded to them aftre a few weeks. Thinking they are quite cute kids you are babysitting is the best you can expect at this stage. After all, they are total strangersto you. and to them you are total strangers who have kidnapped them. So why shoudl they like you?

I wouldn't like or trust someone who came and took me away from all I've ever known, promising me that they woudl be my " forever family". With their strange voices, faces, smells, food, rules and routines. It must be like being kidnapped by Martians

Bonding is hard at the best of times. < whispers> lots of parenst feel like this about their new born babies too. They are just too scared to say. And they have the benefit of a genetic link and family resemblances, in terms of temperament and personality as well as appearance

[MissFenella]

Its getting a little better every day. we are taking it slowly and being kind to ourselves.

The girls are fab but Dh and I have not bonded so we are still in babysitting mode but, little changes in their behaviour to 'our' way is starting to help.

[Ladyofthehouse]

Hi MissFenella,

Our two little girls moved in just before yours by the sound of it and I am now just starting to feel confident around them. I've always thought them adorable and so cute but in the way you would look at a friends child. And when they've been here having tantrums (or worse, the constant toddler whinging!) I have thought why????

The youngest didn't attach to me at all and my DH literally couldn't leave a room for the first week so I really struggled to imagine how I would be at home with both of them when he goes back to work. That is what I think is different. We've had all friends and family giving us advice and their opinions but they just can't understand that what is difficult is now actually knowing these children!

I honestly think you have to just think about 1 day at a time. Each day she has come to me more and more.

Make sure you are giving yourself time to yourself as well. This morning I felt guilty going out for a run but I have felt so much better for it all day without feeling that they are taking all my time and energy.

I'd also advise lists! I've stuck up lists on the inside of the kitchen cupboards for food they like, meal plans, an outline of a routines, ideas of games to play etc. Otherwise it's the moments when I'm truly stuck for how to entertain that get me down.

Hope you are feeling better!

[PheasantPlucker]

Hope things are going well

[MissFenella]

Thanks Kristina - you are of course spot on.

Things get better each day, I have hope :D

[KristinaM]

Ifyou have gone from a peaceful childfree household to having 2 kids overnight then you will be totally shell shocked. It's just so much more intense and hard work than you can imagine before you are a parent.

I often s mlie when I hear people saying " oh yes I know all about children, I'm a teacher /nursery nurse". I want to say " yeah,do you work a 168 hour a week shift then? "

As you know now, it's not the same.never getting a break is very exhausting, especially when everything and everyone is so new. And you have the added stress of wanting to do it right all the time because this is what you've wanted for so long.andyou don't want to mess up these poor kids anymore than they have been already .and you can't palm them off on granny /neighbour like bio kids because of the attachment issues.

Asking yourselves " what have we done? "is totally normal I think ? Just keep on keeping on. It's gets better, honest

[MissFenella]

Confused I can empathise with

[KristinaM]

Apologies, I was confused

[MissFenella]

Thank you so much. I do feel small steps forwards. I'm being kind to myself (and Dh) and we are laughing our way through this.

Thanks again x

Ps I have no bio kids, let alone 3 !

[Happiestinwellybobs]

It is normal to feel this way. It is 7 months since we brought our DD home, and it has not been easy. I honestly don't think anyone would have suspected it, but I struggled - lots! I have had ups and downs with my feelings for her, but slowly we have built our bond.

These are early days for you - my first days were full of "what on earth have we done?" thoughts. Take time for yourselves.

I now don't regret adopting our DD a bit (something I couldn't have honestly said at time over the past few months). She is a delight, and I know how lucky we are to have her.

I didn't talk to anyone about how I felt - eventually my DH. My advice is to talk to people in RL if you can.

Stay strong - remember why you came to adoption. When times were tough, I thought about our SW's words at panel. She said that I should remember how i felt at that time, how much we wanted our DD. And I did - and it helped.

[Kewcumber]

I don;t need to write anything as this says it exactly for me:

So I think I just kept going and had faith that the feelings would come. I decided early enough to forgive myself, to allow myself to keep a smiling face while inside I was thinking, "Leave me alone, you little toerag". And the feelings DID come and I'm really glad I didn't panic.

[Devora]

This is so difficult, because nobody can ever tell someone they will enjoy parenthood.

BUT I can promise, hand on heart, that when I adopted dd2 I felt little other than fatigue, resentment and a screaming desire for freedom. I was kind of proud of her, mainly because she was so pretty and everyone admired her [not-proud-of-myself emoticon]. I reckon it took me six months to get fond of her, and a year to love her. And then in the second year I hurtled into new depths of love that just increased all the time.

What kept me going? Actually, it was knowing that this was exactly what happened with dd1, who is my birth child. I don't think I'm very good at instant bonding. I also know I'm better with older children than with young toddlers and babies (they're cute but BORING and the lack of communication is so FRUSTRATING).

I also knew people who had adopted and experienced the same thing. A very old friend of mine adopted a 1yo and when I first visited them I was shocked at her fairly obvious ambivalence towards him. I thought, "Oh my god, that poor kid, this won't last". But within a year she was completely besotted with them and, 6 years on, that placement is going brilliantly.

So I think I just kept going and had faith that the feelings would come. I decided early enough to forgive myself, to allow myself to keep a smiling face while inside I was thinking, "Leave me alone, you little toerag". And the feelings DID come and I'm really glad I didn't panic.

[funnychic]

Missfennella I really feel for you, I am having serious doubts and my child hasn't even arrived yet. Please keep posting the good people on here have great advice and for me, your thought's and how you deal with them I'm sure will resonate with me and others. x

[KristinaM]

Hope you are feeling better miss fenella. How are your 3 bio kids coping? Are your new children at school?

[Moomoomie]

It is such a huge, life changing event that you are going through. You are bound to feel a bit scared. You now have two little people who depend on you totally.
I am sure everyone goes through this stage to a certain extent.

And, to be honest, after all the assessment and intros etc once it is just you as a family together at home it can be a bit of an anti climax, even though this is what you have been building up to for all these months.

Take care of yourselves, talk to us, hopefully we can help.

[MissFenella]

It is just the whole what have we done thing

I am sure it will improve.

Will post more tonight when they are in bed.

[KristinaM]

How did the introductions go? Did you have these concerns from the start or just since they actually moved in?

It's such a stressful time I know, but please come back and tell us when you can