- 6/6/2007 10:00:00 PMFinal Parenting ClassThis evening we attended the final 2 hour session of our parenting class. The guest speakers included a lawyer who specializes in adoption cases and a child nutritionist. Each of them spoke for about 45 minutes.
The lawyer told us many examples of situations he has come across. From what he said, it appears that we will likely have to "re-adopt" Yuri after we get him home. Readoption is the process by which we get a Wisconsin birth certificate for him and he is recognized by the state as being something like "a natural born child who was born in a different country". That is an over simplification and does not imply that Yuri could ever run for president of the U.S.. The end result will be that we will receive a Wisconsin birth certificate with my wife and I listed as the parents. This will help Yuri down the road when he applies for a job or social security.
The nutritionist showed us a revisited version of the food pyramid. The only thing that is the same between the old version and the new is that the data is displayed in the shape of a triangle. It seems very different and I don't like it. In a nutshell this is what I think I heard her say, "eat a balanced meal". One thing in particular that struck me was the portion size. She passed around a piece of rubber formed to look like beef. It was to represent the amount of meat you should have for 1 serving - 1 oz. Read that again... ONE OUNCE! When I looked at it, it reminded me of the size pieces my kids try to fit into their mouths. Normally I would tell them, "you'd better cut that in half". One ounce... That would never fly in Wisconsin!
This class also marks the conclusion of one more thing - the regular meeting of the other host families who are also adopting Russian children. We have been with them every Wednesday, calling, talking, comparing notes. Some of them are a few steps ahead of us and some behind but either way, it is always exciting to be with them and I have enjoyed it immensely. I hope we stay in contact.
