As per Colorado state law, all adoptive parents are required to take 30 cumulative hours of parent training. Now some of this material is fairly benign and basic (how to feed and change a child) but most of the classes are of a much stronger content level intellectually. Classes that deal with grief & loss for your adoptive child, classes that help you prepare for a child whose gross and fine motor skills may not be on par with peers of similar age are just some of the topics that are addressed in these sessions. Most classes are a half to full day in length and are administered by professionals in their respective fields. Kelly really enjoyed the significance and content of the sign language sessions, and I found the bonding and attachment classes very informative. So many things that quite honestly I had never considered. It was interesting how many people in the classes who have kids already and are now adopting, stated that they wished there had been these classes when they first started their families.

It is amazing the things you must do paperwork wise to adopt. We have had some experience with this when Kelly applied for her resident alien status back in 1997, but of course the wheels of “red-tape” move slower than Molasses. Kelly has been able to get her documentation from

I must say, when one witnesses about 800 little Chinese kid’s running unfettered through

Kelly attended the first orientation session alone as I have been on the road for business. I will attend this same session next month. Kelly said it was very impressive, but wants to wait until I attend to discuss her thoughts on it.