PAT Training

was awful.

The people that taught were wonderful and knowledgeable. They were kind and generous. The food was good. But it was a bit much.

First, we had to wake at 5am to get on the road to drop the kids off at sitters houses. My kids were not keen on getting up so early. Then Paul and I had to be at Gladney by 9am. There we sat in a very stuffy room on uncomfortable chairs for 8 hours! An 8 hour meeting with not enough breaks and then we worked through lunch. That was all too much. We should have been able to leave for at least 90 mins or so for lunch. So of the stuff we were hearing was intense.

My allergies were awful in that room and I spent 8 hours a day sneezing, coughing and blowing my nose. At the end of the day I was spent. I would go home with a horribly raw nose and a headache. We would get back on the road after the training, pick up the kids and get home at bedtime.

The first night most of the kids ate before we picked them up. So we fed them again at home some cereal and then we crashed on the bed. Out like a light by 9pm. The second day was the same...a groundhog type of day. The 3rd day we learned diapering and basic infant care. I found this pointless. After that we were allowed out to lunch and then back to do CPR.

Paul and I as well as others in the class felt they should have done CPR the first day. By the last day we were so drained and spent that we couldnt absorb anymore. But we finished!

Things I would change:

I think there should be a class for beginners and then seasoned. I dont need to learn how to change a diaper. I dont need to know how to make a bottle. I also fostered before as well as adopted so it was redundant.

Next I would make a class specifically for special needs parents. Teach them how to trach change and g tube care. Talk about hospitals, medicaid, support groups, schools, DMEs and other programs for special needs kids. Me knowing how to change a diaper does not help when adopting a child with down syndrome.

I would have allowed more breaks and maybe nicer chairs. Seriously that was hard. My legs were swelled at night every day of the training. We were hearing about certain cases and we just could have done well with more breaks.

I was a foster kid and I dealt with my stuff but hearing some stuff can make me stress a bit so I need to destress and deal with that before going home.

Sunday you could clearly see the kids had enough of not being with their mom and dad and waking so early. They are off to bed now and we are going to start new tomorrow. We hope to get our homestudy update out of the way and find the child or children God has for us. Yep thats right we said children :)

Be blessed