The Meeting
I met bio mom yesterday. She didn't end up having the baby the other day, so she is still very pregnant. She just looks like a young girl in the face to me. Hard to believe she has an 11 year old child. I also met her grandma, and one of her sisters. Her grandma looked young also - she said she has 20 grand children and 30 great-grand children. She is in her 60's - this is the age of my husband's mother! Grandma (who is the kids' great-grandma) talked my ear off. At first she totally ignored me; I think she thought I was one of D's friends. Then when she realized who I was she told me I looked like some person in her family...then the bio mom piped up "She thinks you look like you're about 17 or 18 years old!" Then I told them about the time when I went to pick up D from his class at church and he thought I was a middle schooler. It was funny. Didn't really talk to the bio mom very much. She looked kind of uncomfortable. Then grandma started asking me about what my sign was, and talking about her sign, and started telling me about how she was afraid of water...I finally disentangled myself and headed back home.
I was glad to get to meet everyone even though it was a little strange. They all seemed nice. This visit was at the grandma's house. The last visit I took D to was at (one of) his aunt's house. They have visits all over the place and there are always lots of family members there. It seems strange to me but I'm wondering if it is just a cultural thing...or if it is the end result of everyone not really having jobs so they hang out together a lot because there is nothing else to do? I hope that doesn't sound bad.
The boys were supposed to visit their dad yesterday. He canceled the visit...but no one bothered to call us and tell us. The worker was supposed to call us. Apparently they were aware of the cancellation at 8 a.m. and the visit was not until 10...but I didn't find out until I called the transport company at 9:45 to ask why the worker hadn't arrived yet. This is the second time this has happened with this worker. It is super frustrating because I got the boys all ready to go and told C he was going to go to see his dad...and then they didn't end up going. Lovely. I complained to the supervisor, and also told her about this same worker being late a lot and one of the other workers being late too. Then, the same worker was supposed to come pick the boys up for their visit with mom yesterday afternoon, and it ended up being a new worker that I had never seen before. I'm hoping I didn't get the old worker in too much trouble. Maybe they just reassigned her so that there wouldn't be any retaliation against me, or something. Or maybe I'm not the only one that complained!
Sounds like dad is notorious for popping in and out of his kids' lives. I have a feeling I am going to regret taking the boys off of the list for childcare for MUMs! UGH. They are thinking about upping visits with him since C likes being with him so much, but they want him to be consistent for a month before they do this which makes perfect sense to me. I am going to be so mad if this guy just goes away again.
Took the boys on a little run today. I ran a loop around our little town and ran mostly on dirt roads. It wasn't too bad pushing the stroller through the gravel, although it was definitely harder than pushing it on concrete. We were gone for less than 20 minutes and BOTH of the boys fell asleep. I can't see how sitting in a stroller bouncing around on gravel can be the least bit conducive to sleeping, but whatever works I guess!
Also did a bunch of cleaning today. Of course I have lots more to do (there is always something to clean!) but I feel pretty good about what I got done. I emptied several of our cupboards and cleaned them out, and cleaned off the front of the cabinets. Also swept and mopped the little boys bedroom. I bought this microfiber cloths to use on the Swiffer instead of using the disposable pads and they are working really well so far. I'm pretty excited about saving some money on those things! Ribs are cooking in the slow cooker for dinner, and tonight I'm going to try to make slow-cooker yogurt. Mmmmmmm!
I was glad to get to meet everyone even though it was a little strange. They all seemed nice. This visit was at the grandma's house. The last visit I took D to was at (one of) his aunt's house. They have visits all over the place and there are always lots of family members there. It seems strange to me but I'm wondering if it is just a cultural thing...or if it is the end result of everyone not really having jobs so they hang out together a lot because there is nothing else to do? I hope that doesn't sound bad.
The boys were supposed to visit their dad yesterday. He canceled the visit...but no one bothered to call us and tell us. The worker was supposed to call us. Apparently they were aware of the cancellation at 8 a.m. and the visit was not until 10...but I didn't find out until I called the transport company at 9:45 to ask why the worker hadn't arrived yet. This is the second time this has happened with this worker. It is super frustrating because I got the boys all ready to go and told C he was going to go to see his dad...and then they didn't end up going. Lovely. I complained to the supervisor, and also told her about this same worker being late a lot and one of the other workers being late too. Then, the same worker was supposed to come pick the boys up for their visit with mom yesterday afternoon, and it ended up being a new worker that I had never seen before. I'm hoping I didn't get the old worker in too much trouble. Maybe they just reassigned her so that there wouldn't be any retaliation against me, or something. Or maybe I'm not the only one that complained!
Sounds like dad is notorious for popping in and out of his kids' lives. I have a feeling I am going to regret taking the boys off of the list for childcare for MUMs! UGH. They are thinking about upping visits with him since C likes being with him so much, but they want him to be consistent for a month before they do this which makes perfect sense to me. I am going to be so mad if this guy just goes away again.
Took the boys on a little run today. I ran a loop around our little town and ran mostly on dirt roads. It wasn't too bad pushing the stroller through the gravel, although it was definitely harder than pushing it on concrete. We were gone for less than 20 minutes and BOTH of the boys fell asleep. I can't see how sitting in a stroller bouncing around on gravel can be the least bit conducive to sleeping, but whatever works I guess!
Also did a bunch of cleaning today. Of course I have lots more to do (there is always something to clean!) but I feel pretty good about what I got done. I emptied several of our cupboards and cleaned them out, and cleaned off the front of the cabinets. Also swept and mopped the little boys bedroom. I bought this microfiber cloths to use on the Swiffer instead of using the disposable pads and they are working really well so far. I'm pretty excited about saving some money on those things! Ribs are cooking in the slow cooker for dinner, and tonight I'm going to try to make slow-cooker yogurt. Mmmmmmm!
your visits are nothing like what i have ever heard of or seen, but I know that I have WAY more contact with my kids bio families than other people. it is amazing every thing is so different every where.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you that I would be so frustrated trying to work with the system the way it is right now. Not telling you that a visit is cancelled? Come on! Do they even CARE that the boys - especially C - are so excited to see their dad. That is just wrong! It's mean and totally unacceptable. (Would you like to know how I REALLY feel about this?) We love those boys and want whatever is best for them - why can't the people who are supposed to be working for the kids' welfare actually "care" about them. It's just ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you are awesome Brynn (and you, too Brian). The system is very, very blessed to have you as part of it.
Love you!
Where's the like button? I want to *like* Janelle's comment.
ReplyDelete