The CASA

Having stayed up later than usual the night before, Jeff let us sleep a little longer, which was nice, on Thursday morning. That extra sleep didn't translate into extra energy or motivation though for Henry and Miss R. It was an ordeal getting everyone out the door. Herding cats is what it was. In the car, the kids were in a mood. Miss R took Henry's book away from him. When I told her that she had to give it back, she threw it at him.

I talked with Suree, the director of their daycare, about Miss R moving up. As it turns out, there isn't a choice. By state law, 2 year olds aren't allowed in a room designated for 1 year olds. So Friday will be her last full day with Miss Josie and Miss Kristen!

At 3:30PM, I met Ida, Miss R's CASA, in the lobby of their daycare. A CASA is a court appointed representative for a child who gives his/her opinion to the judge about what would be best for the child. Ida graciously brought toys for both Miss R and Henry. We visited Miss R's room first. We then made our way to the playground and found Henry. I ended up having a hug-fest with several little kids. There's one little gal who seems taken with me. She wanted me to give her a hug. I did so but I was a little tentative about it b/c I wasn't sure how other parents would feel about strangers (to them) hugging their kids. That lead to another little girl wanting to hug Miss R. Then someone wanted to hug Henry. It was one big hug exchange.

Afterward, we went to Henry's room to show Ida what Miss R's future room would look like. Henry found a broom and dust pan and started to sweep the room. I asked him if he wanted to go home and he said no. Apparently, "sweeping" was more fun. Ida gave the kids their gifts. It was a Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse.

Ida followed our car back to our place. She asked me what services I thought that Miss R needed. I said that although Miss R hasn't been evaluated properly, I thought she was doing well. I just wanted to make sure that she had a non-foster parent representative in court to speak with the judge about their relatively "objective" opinion of what was best for her. I mentioned that her lawyer had "forgotten" he was assigned to her case, and even after meeting with us at my request, he forgot to speak up in court. He spent his time representing one of her siblings (who does need representation but so does Miss R). Ida said that she'd be there in court. She said that she thought Miss R was very lucky to have found us. I feel like we are pretty darn lucky too. Ida had read through the case documents. She noted that it really seemed like the parents hadn't made much effort in working the case plan. She also said that during her training, she had seen parents do everything in their power to work their plans (so she had some points of comparison). Miss R, incidentally, will be her first CASA case.

Henry and Miss R were quite interactive while Ida visited with us. When she left, they both said "thank you." Jeff asked me what I thought the CASA brought to the table. I think that she'll bring another opinion for the judge. As foster parents, we won't be offering an opinion about what would be best for Miss R. We'll simply be reporting the facts of how she is doing right now. And that's probably how it should be. It isn't our job to judge the bio parents. That's for the CPS caseworker, CPS' attorney, the FCRB, her guardian ad litem (theoretically), and now the CASA to determine. And hopefully, through their reviews, they'll figure out what is best for Miss R. My concern was that Miss R hasn't had much representation and now I'm feeling more confident that her best interest will be considered.

After Ida left, we went on a family walk. We ran into Swanee, Yvonee, and their canine gangs. Lily has turned into the instigator of playtime, a role formerly occupied by Annie. Lily was trying to engage Annie in some play fighting, but Annie didn't seem to notice Lily, despite the fact that Lily had a mouthful of Annie's neck in her mouth.

Henry and Miss R had leftovers for dinner. They ate pretty well. They had a bath. And then Jeff put them to bed while I went to the grocery store.

I just looked in on the kids a couple minutes ago. Henry's diaper leaked big time (again). He's been drinking mass quantities of water at bedtime. The result wasn't good. I just put him in bed with Jeff, and I'm currently washing the sheets. Fun. I'm thinking that we need to get rid of the one and only bottle of the day once and for all.