Snakes and ladders

At work, I have a game called, Snakes and Ladders. I purchased it as a poor postdoc, before I was "wealthy" enough to afford the real Chutes and Ladders. In Snakes and Ladders, you venture around the board and occasionally, you are bitten by a snake and must tumble down towards the bottom of the board (as opposed to the fun slide you get to do in the Milton Bradley version). The snakes are all over. You expect them to strike at any moment and hope that they don't. Our home study is like a live version of Snakes and Ladders. 

On Friday, we learned that our home study was rejected by Immigration, as the home study worker (and the second supervisory reader) neglected to put the financial information. When doing further research, I discovered that she sent me an email in March, telling me specifically that this information and in a particular format was required. Also in March, I emailed her a template, saying what information was required and how it should be worded. When we met with her in November, she had the USCIS home study requirements and was referencing it when she took notes about Ethiopia. So, how this was missed is boggling to me (and to the Executive Director-ED). 

I spoke with the ED today. Her initial response was, "Unfortunately, its an easy fix." What? Apparently, she has the documentation required (which I also emailed to her) and all she has to do is input that information into the home study. The "unfortunate" part is related to Immigration's demand for an "original" copy (with our initial application, a photocopy was acceptable). We have two options. (1) The ED can track down our original home study worker and have her sign it. (2) The ED can sign the home study herself. 

The ED did not feel that our original home study worker could be trusted. She's not exactly a woman who is known for her punctuality. We may not be able to meet the 45 day deadline. 

The ED reported that she would be willing to sign the home study herself, but did not feel comfortable signing something she did not write. So, that means that we have to do our home visit all....over....again.... (Snake bite!.....long tumble down towards the beginning) Since we don't have to do the background checks, etc over again, it (hopefully) will not take another 2-3 months. She promises to have it done in 45 days. However, I trust her promises about as much as I trust a politician's. She then proceeded to remind me that she offered to redo the home study back in July. If we had agreed to redo the home study, it would be done correctly and we wouldn't be in this place right now.  This reminder only made me feel blamed and attacked. Oh no you di-int! Don't blame this on me! This is probably the only time I have gotten even remotely snippy with the agency and reminded her, "We had already waited long enough! We didn't want to have to wait another 2, 3, or 9 months!" 

Our home visit will be on Sunday. Thankfully, the house is pretty clean and organized now, but it took 2+ days to prepare the house for the home visit last time (and it was clean and organized then, too). So, I get to spend my Saturday scrubbing and my Sunday worried about the home visit. Joy.

If you are a family member or wrote a personal reference, you should expect a phone call in the next week. (She was surprised that none of you were called at all with the first home study). Try to say something nice about us and try not to yell at her too much (even though you know all the dirty details).

By the way, you may be wondering what therapeutic value "Snakes and Ladders" has. Games act as a good talking tool. It also gives me a teaching opportunity to instruct kids about how to appropriately cope with disappointment and failure. 

Lesson learned!