My Family Moments: STUFF

Sunday, April 13, 2008

STUFF

I have so much stuff. Piles everywhere. Some clutter...some important. But all of it when piled together is stuff. Been reading a New Earth (the Oprah Book) and trying to get into that focus that stuff and things are not important. But where do I start? I know where I want to start. My kids things. I don't want them growing up thinking that the kids with the most toys wins. Or thinking it's okay to have piles of things. Clean clothes, toys, books, papers, more toys and more clean clothes. Does this mean they have too much clothes? Probably...but people paid for these clothes. I paid for a little of them. We get lots of hand me downs. Which I love. But I think I have a hard time getting rid of the clothes and the toys because we spent our hard earned money on them. I feel like I am just throwing that money away. Yes, the kids got major use out of them. And I never really throw things away. I give to the American Veterans Association about 4 or 5 times a year. And we give things to Er's mom and dad to take to the Philippines. Plus, I give clothes to my nephew and to other friends who have babies. I guess I need to just get over it and realize that they are just things. GET OVER IT...I hate those words. Hey, if they had less clothes then I would have less laundry!

I need to work on my albums. It always brings me such focus. Oprah was talking about being in the moment. In the present. You can only find real peace if you focus on this moment. When I work on my albums, I am so in that moment. Really! Thinking about it more right now, it is one of the only times I am in the NOW! Maybe when I am watching the kids sleep or when I watch Abby at her dance class. At those times all of my senses are focused on that moment. And I am peaceful. Wow... I may have had a little wee "aha! moment"! But I can't even count five things on my hand which give me that peace.

You know who is really good at being in the NOW...Patty! Yes, you are so good at paying attention to what is going on right in front of you. Whenever I talk to her I never feel as if her mind is floating off somewhere else or that she might be thinking about what she has to do when I leave or hang-up. She's the best! Anyone want to scrap this weekend? I need some peace! lol

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"Foster Family" Terminology

SW: Social Worker = This is a professionally trained (at times I feel from a YouTube video) individual who works for any County or private organization. My foster baby will have a SW and I will have a SW who is also known as a CCW. (see below)

CCW: Clinical Case Worker = This is a professionally trained individual, also known as a Social Worker who works for Angel’s Foster Family Network. They are assigned to a maximum of 12 families at one time and lead them through the fostering system. They are our right hand gal. (no males as of yet) This person does all the legal pushing and pulling on our behalf so we can focus solely on loving and caring for our foster babies. I would not and will not ever do my job as a foster mom without these people.

Supervised Visit = The bioparent has rights to see their child no matter the circumstances. Most often the visits begin as 1 to 2 hours, 1 to 2 times a week. An adult that is approved must watch the parent with the child at all times. (sometimes a lot of work and sometimes boring as heck)

Unsupervised Visit = The bioparent has rights to see their child no matter the circumstances before. If they are improving their situation then they will eventually get the right to have visits without supervision. The foster parent must drop off the child at an approved location and pick them up later. Most often the visit is for 2-6 hours 1 to 2 times a week. And these will only increase in length as the situation improves. (super hard for the foster parent to move to this step)

Foster Baby/Child = A child that has been removed from their biological family due to many different reasons affecting the welfare of the child. They are then placed in protective custody under the County and State.