So there's not a whole lot worse than having to sit in a crowded Social Security office for three hours.
Unless you have to sit there with three kids. Then there's not a whole lot worse than that.
Unless you had NO idea it would BE three hours, so you were ill-prepared from a snack/bottle/activity/hard liquor standpoint.
THAT was my morning.
This just brings to mind YET ANOTHER inequity that takes place with adoption. With my biological kiddies, they brought me a form to fill out while I was still on painkillers in the hospital after birthing my babies. Then, magically, a social security card turns up in my mailbox within 10 weeks. No more paperwork, no hassle, no drama...
However, should you choose to add to your family via the miracle of adoption, there are seemingly UN-ending hoops you have to jump through. And you have to jump through them perfectly right, or you will have to go back to start, do not pass go, do not collect $200.
And don't even get me started on the costs. Just when you think the end is near, nope. You're wrong. It's ALWAYS something else.
Oh, you want your adoption papers in ENGLISH? Well, your dossier wasn't re-translated back into English. You can hire a translator to do that.
Oh, you want your child to be a US citizen? Sorry, you need to re-adopt him to do that.
Oh, you want to re-adopt your son so he CAN be a US citizen? You need to have TWO follow-up home study reports to do that, even thought Haiti only requires one. And oh, by the way, the fee for the citizenship form just about doubled. And did I mention you would need to have your dossier translated into English to do that?
Oh, you want to claim the US tax credit for your adoption to pay off the money you borrowed for the adoption since you knew this was a "sure thing"? Sorry, you have to wait until you re-adopt Nico in the US before you can claim that.
Oh, you want his name legally changed to the name you've been calling him since you decided to adopt him? You have to wait until he's re-adopted and THEN GO WAIT THREE HOURS AT THE SOCIAL SECURITY OFFICE (AGAIN!) TO CHANGE IT!
Sorry, I am just venting.
Speaking of venting and of the Social Security office... There are some CHARACTERS there. Like the guy who was sitting there talking about how he was going to vote for Hillary Clinton because there was no way he was voting for a black man for president. Hey, the guy is entitled to his opinion, but you would have thought he would have looked around and noticed the room was probably at least 3/4 black people and he would have had the sense to keep his racism to himself.
Sheesh. I need a nap.
