Wednesday

Kids Update

Update on kids. The mom came home yesterday. She was in an emergency shelter for addictions and mental illness, awaiting placement in a 28 day rehab. There are still no beds available so they sent her home to wait. Her husband made sure she had drugs and money waiting for her at home. I am disappointed, but after years of doing social work, not really that surprised. She was picked up by her 'friend' anda fellow addict. They were NOT coming home until last night. The mom said how good it was to be out, and she couldn't wait to go get her hair done, and hang out with friend.

Wait a minute....she had a sick 2 year old daughter and a 6 year old son at home who had not seen her in over a week. Now the kids didn't show any signs of wanting to see her, but still. The baby's had a cold with a lot of congestion. They both have asthma, and they always have congestion. They had been to the doctor last week though, and the baby was on an antibiotic, and both on Sudafed and Tylenol and Cingulair. She runs a fever whenever the Tylenol wears off. Now I know this time of year, especially with a child in the family in school, it's very common for kids to pretty much have cold and allergy symptoms most of the time. But most mom's would prefer to be with their feverish 2 year old.

I am trying very hard to not make judgements. I do understand, that I do NOT understand much of anything about addictions. I don't pretend to know what that must be like, but I feel a lot of love towards those with a drug problem, even though it causes such terror, death, and abuse to others. I find myself thinking 'she should' 'she should', and I'm trying not to. I would like any type of response from anyone, and especially anything from those who have had an addiction or who work in that field. When I worked as a domestic violence counselor, one place was a YWCA shelter that was mostly for addiction rehab, and about a fourth for a domestic violence shelter. I've thought of going into that field, but don't plan on doing any type of social work at this time. That sounded silly when I think of the social work I do during most weeks....lol.

Anyway, I'll go get some work done. Maybe. Take care, be kind. Love Ya All  Jan

3 comments:

  1. Hey Jan! It\'s so hard not to judge in cases like that. You just want to shake\'em and say \'why are you doing this to yourself and your kids\'?? We have so many kids at school who have lost their parents to drug problems. They get passed around from family member to family member and never learn what a stable home environment is like. Most of these kids end up very troubled and act out. It\'s heart breaking. I hope the mother will see the light and realize what her kids mean to her and shake the addiction.Now about that sunshine coming through your window.. bring it on! It\'s a beautiful day here too but it\'s not supposed to last long. We\'re headed for more rain and thunderstorms tomorrow and Friday. *sigh*

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  2. I\'m afraid the only response I could give to that situation is to tell the mum off for being so selfish! I wouldn\'t of course but I\'d really want to. I\'m not very good in these sort of situations as I can only see it from the childs viewpoint. I have lived in deprived areas and seen children left to fend for themselves whilst parents were getting wasted with their friends, it\'s not nice and you have a hard job not to jump in and try and take care of all the kids. Sadly the kids aren\'t used to that and tend to see you as odd. Anyway sorry I\'ve nothing helpful to say to your situation! This is why I couldn\'t be a social worker! Bye for now luv Karen x

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  3. Addiction is costly. Emotionally, mentally and physically.  I\'m only a short-timer addict (addicted to C3 narcotics post-surgery).  Living in a daze wasn\'t for me, so I gave it up.  Others, sadly, love living in the daze.  Sorry that I cannot offer you advice.  It took tough love to break my husband\'s alcohol addiction, and just last month he celebrated 10 years of sobriety.  Sometimes, it\'s o.k. to judge.

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