It has been a very hectic month. I started a new job with irregular hours and moved to a new apartment. Moving was a process. Finding a place that was suitable for my children that was willing to accept dogs was a challenge. I find this new job leaves me physically exhausted with very little free time.
Seeing Ayn has become much more difficult. Ayn is in school Monday-Friday and needs to get to bed at a reasonable time for school in the morning and the majority of my shifts are completed in the evening. The foster home also needs to be able to arrange transportation for Ayn to visit and that requires juggling. I've done my best to see Ayn as much as possible, though it has usually been limited to once or twice a week. I'm hoping when school is out for the summer this will pick up a bit.
Ayn was over yesterday and we had a great time. I was wondering how she would react to her new surroundings here. Ayn had previously expressed that she did not want to go to the new house. I attribute that to her fear of the unknown. Ayn becomes very set in her ways and desires consistency in most aspects of her life.
As it turns out, once she was here, she thankfully was very accepting and happy to be here. Again I hear that she doesn't want to leave when the visit draws to a close. I have a hard time with that myself. I do my best to validate her feelings and let her know I miss her and she'll see me soon.
Derek has also moved. I am optimistic that things will be moving in the right direction for him and the boys. He has met with the new social worker. I have not yet had any contact with her but will try to reach her today to introduce myself and hopefully (somehow) arrange a time that we can meet.
As far as over nights go, the previous social worker left the decision in the hands of the new social worker. As far as Ayn being returned to her parents... Now that Derek has completed his move, he is in the process of setting up an intervention program for our son. He has hired a BI that seems to be an excellent fit for our family.
I'm still not sure what the Ministry believes I have done that indicates Ayn should not have been with myself or Derek all along. I have never been asked to do anything more than have social workers monitor my interactions with Ayn and investigate my home to ensure it is a safe environment for Ayn, provide criminal record checks, etc. I have also had contact a behavioral consultant because, guess what? Ayn has autism which isn't going away, and neither am I. If all else fails, we will have a second Case Conference on July 4th.
