I had an epiphany today, while I was sobbing and driving home from yet another waste of time errand... I am stuck in one giant game of Whac-A-Mole. Every time I think I have everything with the adoption process under control, something unexpected pops up. I'm in the middle of whacking that mole at the upper left corner, and I'm thinking that the one in the middle should pop up next. But out of the corner of my eye, I see the one in the lower right pop up unexpectedly, and I can't get to it in time. And I think the game should have been over by now, but more moles keep popping up! That is precisely what this feels like. It's very hard to find the right words to describe what these last few months of preparing our home study and dossier have been like. There was an exciting sense of community at the beginning, but now it's a little isolating because it feels like there is exactly ONE other person in the world who understands how complicated, frustrating, and unpredictable this can be. My friend (who is also adopting from Ukraine) and I have agreed that there should be better step-by-step instructions on how to go through this process, and joked that maybe I should write a book. If I ever do, I'm going to title it Whac-A-Mole for Dummies.
