Panic and adoption

Last year I asked for a book about adopting older children so that: 1) I could read and decide if this was really something I wanted to do later in my life, and 2) so that I could speak with more understanding when I am out promoting the Heart Gallery. (see Heart Gallery North Florida)

Recently, when talking with a new foster mom I heard the excitement and panic in her voice as she explained that she just got a phone call to take two siblings! Yes, I completely understood. That was the same rush of worry, excitement, anxiety I got when I received the phone call for Petra. The unknown in these situations is many times overwhelming; luckily they don't last long. With both our children the moment we got them home it was wonderful. But we fostered babies. Would it be just as wonderful with an older child?

So, when I came across this paragraph in this book I just had to laugh.

"Whether you adopt domestically or internationally, one feeling that is almost universal--and completely normal---is panic. Even parents who are generally unflappable or who have adopted before report a sudden rush of panic when they meet their child. I remember calling our social worker right before we traveled in a state of blind panic, wondering what on earth was wrong with me. She chuckled and said, 'You're going halfway around the world to see a nine-year-old child you've never met, to bring him home to be your son. Why on earth would you be scared?' To which I replied, 'Oh well, since you put it that way.'" --- Our Own: Adopting and Parenting the Older Child

And to think, I only had to go 5 miles down the street!