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Anyone know if you can leave things with your child after the 1st trip? I know I have heard people leaving a picture book, but anyone ever leave clothes or toys or anything like that for the child to have until you come back on the 2nd trip?
I was just thinking how the leapfrog bear that talks only things you program it to say would be great to leave with the child at the 1st trip, so they could press it to hear their name and some american words.
Thoughts?
we brought a picture album of us and our family, some small books, a teddy bear and doll. We left it at the orphanage at got it all back on the 2nd trip. OUr daughter's caregiver was kind enough to show her the pics in the album.
We were told not to bring clothes on the first trip. But here's a tip....bring a measuring tape so you can take measurements for size and bring paper and pencil to trace the child's foot for shoes. The shoes your child will be wearing will be in European sizes and it's tricky trying to use an American conversion chart! We brought a couple different sizes, in both shoes and clothes, and luckily one pair of shoes fit her! But don't worry...you can always buy stuff there.
take care and keep us posted
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Yes you can leave things with your child/children on the first trip. We left each of our kids with a small photo album, a small stuffed animal, and a toddler sized fleece blanket. They loved that they got to keep their new things with them when we left after the first trip. I hope they are enjoying it and it is making the wait for our 2nd trip easier on them.
We also brought a picture book, blanket, and stuffed animal for our son. We were allowed to take our son (during the first trip) to our hotel for a day. When we brought him back wwe left diapers, wipes, herbata (tea) and cookies. The orphanage appreciated the donations greatly.
Every orphanage is different. The best advice is to have a "second" of anything that you leave since their is a liklihood that you may not get it back. The kids don't "own" anything in the orphanage it is all shared. So the caregivers will have a time of it if one kid now "has" something that the others don't. That goes for clothes, toys, etc. Picture books they seem to routinely review with the kids so they know who is coming to get them and you get those back for sure. We left a doll with our daughter and it took quite a bit for the orphanage staff to find it before we left. It was there, but it was obvious that after the third animal/doll was brought to us that it hadn't been given just to her. We had a second at home and it was just a small cloth doll from target, so it wasn't a big deal if we didn't get it back.
We did ask for permission to bring clothes to the orphanage, but as a donation instead of just for her. We brought one full suitcase of our older sons clothes to give them. The next time we came we saw our sons clothes all over the playground:)
The above post is correct, you should not count on getting anything back. If you do great, but don't expect to. We have not taken our 2nd trip for this adoption. But with our first adoption (not from Poland) we left a stuffed animal with our daughter after our first trip and it did not come home with her on our 2nd trip. We were disappointed but did have a very similar one at home for her.
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Thanks for the notes everyone. Still so much time until I will have to plan for any trips, but trying hard not to leave any questions unanswered! Thanks again!