PRIDE (Parent Resources for Information, Development and Education) is a nine-session course for a total of 27 hours of training that could be offered in a variety of ways, from once a week to sessions on weekends...All PRIDE trainers have received comprehensive training and have been approved by the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies which holds the Ontario license for PRIDE. Each session is led by co-leaders, one an adoption professional and the other an experienced adoptive or foster parent.
This is a mandatory for all in Ontario who wish to adopt (as of December 31, 2007).
We did our PRIDE training in August and cannot say enough about it. Initially, I thought it was yet another cash grab. What did we really need to know about adopting? What training could they possibly give us that I couldn't learn myself?
What an eye-opener. There are so many intricacies and challenges with adopted children. Probably the main thing that we took out of this training is how important open adoption is. I'll get into that later because it really does need its own post or two.
Another thing that was discussed is how much loss the child will have. We really went into this thinking, wow, isn't the child we get going to be SO thankful that we are giving him/her a loving home? Apparently I watched too many TV after school specials as a kid.
Just think of how SCARY it must be to suddenly have everything you have known taken away from you. And it doesn't matter how old you are. Everything that a child knows in its life is gone. Maybe there is one particular worker in the orphanage who sings him to sleep. Maybe there is some radiator that makes a sound that is familiar. A particular blanket that is clutched. Gone. Everything that you knew.
If a child has been placed in foster homes, it's yet another loss in their lives. They may be too young to understand why yet another move is happening. A child who was looking forward to future events such as a friend's birthday party. or who enjoy participating on a sports team could suddenly be moved away and thrust into the unknown. It's great that you've finally bonded with your foster family. Here are your new parents!
If everything that you knew and loved were taken away from you, how would that make you feel?
We will take every day in baby steps, one day at a time. I am really hoping that trust and attachment happens easily (the good kind of attachment, not the bad) but we are willing to do whatever it takes to form these important bonds with our child.
