My Family Moments: Big Thoughts

Friday, January 9, 2009

Big Thoughts

Something that i ate must have brought on these big thoughts that have been racking my brain tonight. First I decide to get on the web to research a disease one of my dear friends son has...the nick name is Brittle Bone Disease. The real name is Osteogenesis Imperfecta. which I didn't know till tonight. This wonderful 10 yr old boy has had this disorder since birth and has broken every bone I could think of not being medically minded. He is one of my son's bestest friends and has taught my children lessons of strength, compassion, understanding and patience at levels Erwin and I could never have taught them. I sit and listen to his mom explain his situation over and over. Not a flinch, not a blink of eye, her and her husband do it with class and dignity. Again a level of strength and patience I know few people possess. I found one Google description that led me to the Foundation. I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of what I know but I'm excited to learn.

Ok so that was big thought #1. Then Er and I were watching Private Practice tonight and one of the stories was about a family who had their oldest child with Autism. They were under the impression vaccines were the cause. with this in mind they refused to have their other two younger siblings vaccinated. In turn, the middle child contracted Measles and was doing horribly. In TV world on his way to passing. The mom still wouldn't give her youngest child the vaccination. Even after the entire Dr office had to lock their doors and not let anyone in or out due to the seriousness of this disease. Right as the sick child needed to be intibated, the Dr chose to ignore the mother and vaccinate the other child in fear that they too would contract the disease. So, I don't know the statistics....yet. But at this point in time. I know for a FACT that if I had to choose between having a child with Autism vs. watching my child die of a horrible disease and not having them in my arms ever again, 10 times out of 10 I would choose HAVING A CHILD with Autism. Now, having said that, I am lucky enough to have one of my best friends of 25 yrs be a teacher of children with Autism. This is her specialty, this is her life. And for some lame unknown, I'm sure very explainable, reason we have never had the conversation about Autism and vaccines. Plus, a friend who just had a baby was trying to go the healthy route and was researching the no vaccines before she had the baby. I cant wait to talk to her and see what she found out. I can't wait to learn.

What the heck did I eat? Seriously? Taco Salad. Some Reese's peanut butter cups. I'll keep you posted though!

Night All!
p.s. Happy New Year!

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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.