Big girls do cry

Everyone knows the nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Children are like Humpty Dumpty. Sometimes they fall and sometimes they can't be put back together again. How do you protect them from the great fall? How do you tell a seven year old child who has been in foster homes and who has been with her siblings in a relative home for four years that her caregiver doesn't want her there anymore? How do you protect her from that great fall? The one where she has been told that she is bad? Is it her fault that she has behaviors that can be a challenge to work with? Has everything been done to mend the cracks that she has from her previous falls? I don't believe that a seven year old child is a throw away and I don't believe that she should be punished for mistakes that adults have made. Parents that didn't or couldn't keep her. Workers and caregivers that didn't get her the counseling that could help her through the rejections she has had. It's not too late. But, when I go to her home and tell her that she is moving. That she will no longer live with her siblings. That she is going to a foster home, or an emergency shelter and will be living once again with strangers. How will I answer her questions about why her caregiver wants her brothers and her sister, but doesn't want her? How will I be able to protect her from the great fall so that I can start the process of putting her back together again?

It's okay for big girls to cry. I have already cried when I was talking to the caregiver, trying to convince her that we don't give up on the little ones. Will she cry? Will I cry with her? Maybe. Because it's okay to cry. But then, I will start putting her back together again. And I pray that she will only be cracked and not broken into little pieces that can't be put back together.

Dharma rulz

A poster on a forum I frequent posted a thread about who's running your life. His thread focuse on his dog. Well, I love my dogs dearly, but they are not running this house. Dharma is. While I sometimes get frustrated having my son and his family living here (I enjoy my privacy), I love getting to be a part of Dharma's life. She absolutely runs this house. She loves to come get in my bed when it is her bedtime. And then she gets offended that she has to go to her bed. She took off her diaper yesterday morning, came in my room and pee'd on my floor. Thank goodness it is a wood floor. If anyone else did that, I would probably beat them as I chased them out of my house. With Dharma, it is cute. I keep a bag of candy on my dresser that is Dharma candy. No one else touches them. Dharma gets one a day. She's starting to talk and will tell us what she wants to eat or drink. She also tries to be so helpful. She will start wiping the table in front of her when she is finished eating. I was throwing trash away today and she helped put it in the trash can and wanted to go to the dumpster with me. She's fun and adorable. I'm hoping she takes her time growing up.

A girl's best friend

No, it's not diamonds. Not for the traveling girl, anyway. My best friend when I am traveling for work is mapquest. Of course, if someone wanted to give me a portable GPS, I wouldn't say no. It is so nice when mapquest takes you right where you want to go. I have been misled by mapquest before, so this is a serious matter. Today, I took a child to Alvin. I mapquested from Hobby airport in Houston to the placement and mapquest worked like a charm. Usually when I am flying, I run short on time. I rush to the airport praying that I make my flight. I have had some very close calls. Today, I had all the time in the world. I stopped in Pearland on the way back to the airport and had a great BBQ lunch. Once I arrived at the airport, I had plenty of time to browse and buy Dharma and Lauren overpriced gifts from one of the gift shops. They were happy. It is really nice to be able to relax and not worry about getting lost or missing my flight.

Office move

Ok, it's official. We will move to our 'temporary office' next week. I went to the office this afternoon to start packing. Start is the correct word. I will spend several hours tomorrow and probably stay late Monday and Tuesday to have it done by Wednesday. Man, I have the smallest office of anyone on my unit. How did I get so much stuff? Of course, most of it is case files. I have 11 boxes of case files so far. I estimate that I need about 16 more. That doesn't include the files that are in the bookshelf in our hallway. I have case files out there that I don't use now, but have to pack and take to the new building because they go with my current files. They are in the hall because they wouldn't fit in my office. I did get my personal stuff off the walls and packed up. Between my co-workers and myself, we have boxes stacked down the hallway and sore muscles and backs. I'm trying to make sure that I pack files that I don't generally need separate from the ones I have to access on a regular basis. I don't want to unpack any that I don't have to if we are moving again in six months or so. Also, I decided to file paperwork that has been stacking up while I am packing the files. Might as well get it done all at once. I think we should have a party once we get moved. We deserve it.