| Our Family's Journey to China (cont'd) |
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| Ontario Time Lines (cont'd) |
| June, 2001: I have been crazy busy this month! Between organizing the prom for our Grade 12 students, getting ready for exams, marking mountains of ISU essays, creative writing projects and journals, I haven't even had time to go to Matthew's soccer games. The good thing is, I also haven't had time to fret about how long the referral is taking. I'm still refusing to listen to any of the rumours flying about-- they ALWAYS turn out to be wrong-- and I know that Yulin will inform us of any legitimate news as soon as she knows it herself. It amazes me to think that a year ago this month, our home study was being sent to the MInistry of Community and Social Services for their permission to adopt and I was so happy that the letter of permission arrived several weeks later. Little did I know that a year would pass and we'd still be waiting. No splash pads, parks and YMCA programs for Matthew and his baby sister this year. I guess those experiences are on hold for a while. July, 2001: Well, I'm finally finished my library course. I'm sure nobody will believe it, but this course was more work than any other course I've ever taken, including my A.Q. course for my English Honours Specialist. There was so much to learn and so little time to learn it! For my assignment on website recommendations, I did Lisa McClure's site on "Personal China Adoption Stories." I recommended it for Grade 11 Parenting classes, or OAC Family Studies. It would be a fabulous resource for students doing research on international adoption. At least I have some idea of what my job is going to be when I walk into the school library in September. I'm looking forward to teaching research skills to as many classes as I can book. I've always done that myself with my own classes, so I'm quite familiar with it. I've also been out looking at furniture. Rob and I need a new bedroom suite for our room, a suite for Matthew's room and a livingroom suite. I've found a great store in Kitchener-- Marten's-- that I'll be going back to in the fall. Once Rob has renovated upstairs, we'll get the bedroom furniture. Gary dropped a beautiful wooden crib off today. It'll go in my room, until the baby's older and I know she can sleep relatively peacefully in Matthew's room, and in her own room eventually, once we've moved. Yulin called this month to tell us that we will definitely be getting our referral in August and travelling early to mid-October. She said she was hoping they'd come in July, but that when she talked to the CCAA, they told her they are processing so many dossiers, our group's proposals wouldn't be ready until next month. She said she recommended that we stay overnight in Vancouver on the way to China, to break up the journey a little. We actually considered taking Matthew with us, since I hate the idea of being away from him for two weeks, but it's just not practical. Matthew is (and always has been) a high-needs child. He can't keep still and gets horribly bored on car trips of more than one hour. Also, he behaves very badly when he's out of his routine and he's such a picky eater! I'm afraid a trip to China with Matthew would be torturous. I envy people with fairly placid children who can make it a positive experience, but my son could never be described that way. I'd have two very needy babies, requiring all my attention if Matthew was along. The deciding factor was that Matthew himself said he didn't want to go. He said: "Me on a plane for hours!!?" (Wonder where he heard that?) Then he said he wanted to stay with Auntie Jo and Uncle Gary, because he doesn't get to spend much time with them and he loves them. I know intellectually that it's best for him to stay here, but I am going to miss him so much, I don't know how I'm going to tear myself away from him to get on that plane. |
| Peace - George Herbert Sweet Peace, where dost thou dwell? I humbly crave, Let me once know. I sought thee in a secret cave, And asked, if Peace were there. A hollow wind did seem to answer, No, Go seek elsewhere. |
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