Adopting a child is usually a long and arduous task, but an experienced adoption attorney can help make it more efficient. Still, the legal complications aren't the only things to worry about. No matter how much you love your new family member, he or she may not know or appreciate it right from the start. Prepare to integrate the child into your family as soon as he or she arrives. These four tips will help:
Help With the Adjustment
Your home is one of the places where you are apt to feel comfortable. It is easy to assume that everybody else (including your newly adopted child) should be comfortable there too. Unfortunately, you are the one who is used to the environment, but the child is moving to a strange place.
Start helping the child to adjust even before he or she comes home. You can do this, for example, by giving the child a toy that he or she gets to come home with. That way the child gets to have at least an item to take the strangeness out of his or her new home.
Forget About a Big Party
If the big day is truly about your new child--and that is how it should be--then you shouldn't bother holding a big celebratory party. Inviting neighbors, potential schoolmates, and your family members may seem like a good idea to you, but such a homecoming will only be stressful to the child. It isn't easy for a child to meet all those new people. If you have to do a party, wait until the child settles in.
Don't Let It Overwhelm You
Due to the excitement and stress that you are likely to face in the first few days, it's easy to be overwhelmed and forget about your well-being. Unfortunately, that would be disastrous for both you and the child. You can only continue taking care of the child, for example by helping him or her to integrate into the new family, if you are on top of your game both physically and emotionally.
For example, you shouldn't stay up all night taking care of the child as long as he or she isn't sick. For example, it's best to sleep when he or she is sleeping so that your energy is replenished for the next round (when the child wakes up). This is especially necessary for young children.
Handle any problem that erupts just as you would with your birth child, as long as the problem isn't legal. If there is a legal problem, for example if you discover a lie on the part of the birth mother, then consult a legal office like Hurth Sisk & Blakemore LLP for help.
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