We got 2 letters from Child Protective Services. One for the husband and a separate one for me. I opened mine with a little bit of hesitation. I know in my heart that I am a good mom and that the husband is a good dad, but I don't know what people see. Do people see us differently? What does a social worker, that is trained to look at things with a critical eye, see? Does he see crumbs on the table and floor a sign of uncleanliness? Does he see cluttered kitchen counter tops as sloth-like behavior? Does he understand that a home with 4 young children means that mom has her hands full and can't always wipe the table and sweep the floors after every meal, and the mail and other items that come in everyday doesn't always get sorted to their proper places right away?
Opening the letter, the first page explained the policies of CPS and what the letter means and if you weren't satisfied with the results, where to call; etc etc etc. The last page stated:
"Allegations that were investigated:
An investigation was recently completed regarding the CPS report dated 9/05/2008 which alleged that "Baby" was NEGLECTED by "Mama"
Findings of the investigation:
The investigation of the allegations found that "Baby" was NOT NEGLECTED by "Mama"
Risk that abuse and/or neglect may occur in the future was also found to be minimal to low.
Conclusion:
For the above stated reasons, CPS WILL NOT be offering services to your family."
You just don't know the relief I felt when I read the last page. It was a HUGE weight lifted off my shoulders. Both Hubby and I looked at each other and smiled big smiles.
My husband works at the mall in the big town and he sees lots of familiar faces-- old friends, former co-workers and acquaintances. One day he saw the pediatrician that reported us to CPS. The pediatrician saw my husband and then quickly ducked, covered his face and walked away. Now why would he do that? I'd like to think that he feels guilty for reporting us, but it may also be he wanted to avoid a confrontation. In any case, it's over and we will never be going back to that doctor again.
I'm unable to post any pictures today, Blogger is acting funny.
We pureed one of the pumpkins and made pumpkin cookies then froze the rest of the pumpkin puree in 1-cup portions. The pumpkin seeds are drying and will be toasted and seasoned tomorrow.
Pumpkin cookies recipe found here. Good cookies, kind of cake-y, but good.
I was going to do a whole post about how to puree pumpkin for pies and breads, but Pioneer Woman beat me to it. Go here for how to make puree and here for pumpkin seeds. She makes her puree and seeds pretty much the same way I do mine, so check it out.
7 comments:
Congratulations on the "case CLOSED!"
Congratulations! You deserve it!
I'm glad this trying time is over for your family.
Yippie! It's time for a dance of joy and celebration. :)
Gee whiz the CPS were wasting their time, anyway. Why don't they pay more attention to the bonafide neglected children? Could your being deaf been a trigger? I just don't understand. But they are getting paid for what they do. Sigh.
Lantana, who would tear up the place at being accused of being neglectful!
Yay for no more CPS worries!
oh i can very easily imagine the relief you felt. immediately after every time i yell at my kids or anything of that sort, i become afraid that someone else is calling cps. glad the social worker agreed with you.
Thanks everyone!! We did a happy dance when we read the letters and hope that we don't ever have to deal with CPS again.
Darth-- I feel the same way sometimes, and now even more so... will a CPS worker do a check-up from time to time and catch me at just the moment I am yelling at the kids? urghh!! I think I'll always have a bit of paranoia now.
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