Mardie Caldwell

Tips on Getting Your House Ready for the Home Study

Making a good impression the first time is valuable and important.  Your first step to adopting a child is a good home study. 

When you adopt a child a home study is required. The purpose of the home study is to evaluate the environment the child will be living in. This is all part of the adoption process. Of course you will want to make as good of an impression as possible so that when the adoption professional visits, your home study will go through smoothly.

One problem that many people have is that they are so busy with work, the adoption, and everyday life that they find it extremely difficult to devote the time to cleaning and getting ready for their home study. Being ready for the home study as well as your child is extremely important, but it can be accomplished with out undue stress.

Getting your house ready for your adoption does not have to be an unpleasant task. Remember, this is all in preparation for bringing your child home; and if you look at it as simply part of preparing for new beginnings, it will suddenly not feel like such a chore.

Getting ready for the adoption home study can be a much easier process if you:

• Make a list of everything that needs to be done. This may include remodeling a bedroom for your child, clearing out anything that is cluttering your home, etc.
• Assign yourself a task to spend an hour completing each day. Take on one room at a time. On Monday you may want to spend time getting rid of clutter, Tuesday can be laundry day, Wednesday can be spent dusting and vacuuming, etc.
• Use the correct tools for the job you are doing. Getting something done is so much easier if you have the proper tools to do the job. For instance, it is much easier to get something done quickly if you have a container to hold your cleaning materials. This way you will be able to take them with you from room to room instead of running back and forth to get what you need.
• Get rid of the junk. This may sound simple, but some people find this very hard to do. Make it a rule that if it is not something that you absolutely love, has sentimental value, or is something that is used, it is junk and needs to be disposed of or donated to charity.
• Make it fun. Instead of looking at it as work, make it more enjoyable by involving the whole family. Work together and add some upbeat music; before long you will be surprised at just how much cleaning you were able to get done.
• Don't let anything distract you. This means no TV or visiting on the telephone.
• If it is a nice day, take your work outside. Yard work can be enjoyable on a sunshiny day. This not only gets the outside of your house ready, but will be helpful in lifting your spirits too.
• Remember that deep cleaning involves organizing the closets, cupboards, attic and basement as well.
• Open up your doors and windows. You will be amazed at how something as little as opening up windows and doors to let in some fresh air and sunshine in is able to bring a clean and fresh atmosphere to your home. As long as the weather is pleasant, let in lots of fresh air.

By following your cleaning list at a relaxed pace, before you know it your house will be ready for the home study and it will scarcely feel like you really did all that work.

Remember, your goal is to present the best possible home to the adoption professional that will be visiting your home; therefore you will want to pay as much attention to detail as possible. Remove all clutter, and clean, even in the areas that are not normally seen. Make this project a family affair and look at is as not so much a job, but one more step in bringing your child home through adoption.

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