gave some hugs today, needed hugs as well
I don't know how much I can say about work. I work with children/families involved with child protection services, but I don't work for the State (anymore). Yesterday I made 2 home visits to children in foster care, as I usually do. The 1st one was non-eventful, 14 month old was asleep during my visit. Visit #2 was to a 3 yr. old girl in her foster home, where the foster parent does in-home daycare during the daytime. The little girl got hit by another child accidentally w/an object. She began to cry and wail "I want my mommy." She's been in the foster home for one year. The little girl ran to ME, and threw her arms around me and stayed that way for 30 minutes, while I sat on the floor holding her, rocking her, and patting her back, trying to give her the most hope I could, by telling her that we all love her, she's so smart, such a brave girl, etc. She kept screaming, crying, just sweating limp in my arms, "I want my mommy" over and over for 30 minutes nonstop. I just let her cry and held her, trying not to cry myself, because if ANYBODY has something to cry about, it's her.
Her mother has abandoned her. She'll be adopted soon. It looks like her adult cousin in WA will adopt her. It'll have to be a slow transition, however, from her current foster home into her cousin's home. Everyone, including her foster parents are for it, too. (we're not sure about mom, as she's dissappeared.)
My heart broke yesterday, I tell you. Then I come back to work, all teary and angry, and our assistant starts telling me that a 21 year old lady in Chicago was arrested for leaving her 3 week old in a carseat in the street while she had her NAILS DONE. She got into a fight with the child's father, who also didn't want to take care of the kid because he was going to get some work done on his car. So she left the baby in the street, thinking that the dad would change his mind and come back for baby, and the mom (if you could call her that) went back in the nail salon. So, she was arrested when building security saw all this from a distance, but released on a $100 bond!!!!!