Tina's Daily Blog: It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year....

Friday, July 28, 2006

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year....

Yes... it is the most wonderful time of the year! Back to school time! Only six days from today the kiddos will be getting off a BUS right about now... and would have eaten TWO of their meals at school, looking to us only for an after school snack, dinner, and dessert. Yippeeeeeee! I suppose it's time to go home and start preparing this year's "Wow Wall". The kids are already looking forward to it. If you a new reader to this blog, the Wow Wall was set up to encourage the kids to do well in school on a day-to-day basis. We clear the walls in the dining room, put up colorful paper, with a sign that says "WOW WALL" in the middle of a wall... then any kid who brings home an A or B gets to tape it to the wall. The kid have a sense of pride when sitting around the dinner table at night looking at all of their good grades. :o)It worked really well for them last school year - and - since they are looking forward to it, I assume it'll work well again this year.

Big news on the Kid and Julie front.... our current DCF worker, Karen Fletcher, is resigning effective 8/11/06. That could be good, could be bad. Could be good because this new person might be able to get things moving faster. Could be bad because she might decide to push the kids to get home even faster. The other side that is totally a downfall is that we have to 'start new' again with someone totally different. If you remember correctly, when Karen started it took her roughly 2 months to even read Julie's file! (it is a rather large file, but still!) I talked to Karen about a couple things with the kids and Julie while we were discussing her leaving... one being Kayla's need for a mental health referral. She explained that she called someone she knows who told her that Kayla didn't need to see someone who specializes in 'sex' stuff because she felt it was definately a behavior problem. I would completely agree with that. Course, we are still nowhere with getting her in anyplace! Very frustrating. I also talked to her about the kids and gangs. Of course I've told you that they were involved in gangs (yeah folks, real honest-to-goodness gangs) when they were living at home. Of course they are not active in that at all while living here, but they should be educated in how not to get involved (or to get un-involved) for when they get home. Karen told met that she still didn't think they were ever going home so I shouldn't worry about it. I told her that - as SLOW as every single thing in this process is -- if Julie saw a Judge in January who said she could have the kids back after XX period of time, we'd need to get started soon to be ready by then. I mean... we've been working on getting Julie a second opinion with a Psychiatrist for 7 months now... and it's still not happened.

We are going to pick up the SHARES food tomorrow. I can't wait to see what we get for the price. I really hope and pray it's enough to carry us through the month. That was pretty random... but I was just thinking about it. Anyways....

So, life is totally different with Amanda living at home now. I don't know how to explain it except to say that it's just different. When we get home from work, instead of being totally focused on the kids, we are more focused on what's going on with Amanda. Typically there is discussion from the kids about how Amanda is yelling at them or bossing them around, which is frustrating. We've talked to her over and over again about not 'parenting' the kids, but she keeps doing it. The other day Jonathan called me at work to ask me something stupid. I was trying to politely tell him that I would have to deal with it when I got home that night, but - he couldn't hear me. Why not you ask? Because Amanda was in the kitchen screaming at him telling him not to call me with these kinds of things at work. He couldn't even hear me she was yelling at him so badly. Course there are other things... how she's getting to/from work, how is she going to buy uniforms for work, she's going out with friends, etc. Last night Chris and I went to Church for Choir practice. I called home to check in... Amanda was rip-roaring drunk. She had gotten into our liquor and had several shots. Now... before you go thinking it, Amanda isn't a drunk. We don't need to hide it from her. And frankly, I don't mind if she has a shot every once in a while when she's home. I'd rather her do it here then someplace else. But she was way past a shot or two. By the time we got home, she was on the phone talking to some guy we don't know and kept falling out of her bed. I asked her to get off the phone (probably 10 times I asked total) and she told me that she "pays rent and can do whatever she wants". Oh yeah... this is going to be good, huh? I said, "You are paying rent now??" She replied, "yep, it says in my rental agreement that total due for July and August is zero dollars." I was so upset... I mean, July and August was a gift to help her get caught up. She's going to throw it in my face literally saying "I can do what I want because I pay rent". I'm hoping it was just the alchohol talking... I'll talk to her about it tonight when I get home. I am fully aware that she had a tendancy to 'push my buttons' and get me to over react. I'm trying not to do that. I want her to settle down, work hard, save money, go to church, and find peace in her life. One day at a time I suppose.

I need to run. I'll leave you with a quote from Acts 2:25 - I was reading through Acts today and this caught my eye. Remember to thank God for your blessings!

"I always see the Lord near me, and I will not be afraid with him at my right side. Because of this, my heart will be glad, my words will be joyful, and I will live in hope.”

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In A Nutshell:

Here is a letter I sent to Dr. Phil which really sums everything up:
I am married to my high-school sweetheart (20 years this August), with two wonderful children (Amanda who is 20 and Jonathan who is 13). I have two sisters, both younger – I call them “my good sister” and “my bad sister”. My good sister is – well, good! Normal in every way. The bad one, Julie, has been in trouble since she was a kid. As a baby she cried all of the time. As a teenager she was in trouble all of the time. At the age of 14 or so I remember that she had run away from home to live with a grown man in Atlanta. This was one of many run a ways. As a teenager, she provided sexual favors to boys in school, as well as teachers. As a young adult she was arrested for prostitution. She’s done drugs ranging from marijuana to crack. She was diagnosed early on as bi-polar with personality disorder. She’s also a serious cutter to the point where she no longer hid the cuts. She’s cut things like “Ronald Cecchinni” into her arm… and “Fuck you Dr. XXX” on her stomach, in large letters. Julie is also a diagnosed sex-addict. She’s also recently (in the past year) begun ‘huffing’. (I honestly believe that this huffing has caused some permanent damage) She is currently 36yo.
Julie lost her husband Ron a year and a half ago as a result of Leukemia and Kidney Disease which the military attributed to his serving in the Gulf War. He left behind three children – Kayla who is now 15, Justin who is now 14 and Kayte who is now 13. Even when Julie was married, her psychiatric problems persisted. She has been hospitalized literally hundreds of times over the years. However, when her husband was alive, he would take care of the kids when Julie was mentally out of control. After Ron died, Julie lost control of the kids and her life. She began to spiral out of control, having pot parties at her home (to the point where the kids said a door would open and a cloud of smoke would come bellowing out of the room), smoking weed with her own kids, having sex all over the house with different men all the time, allowing young men (19 yo) to sleep over with her oldest daughter (only 14 at the time), and allowing Gang members to live in her home (she said she felt ‘safe’ with them there). In addition, she was attempting suicide daily, overdosing on medications hoping to not wake up the next morning. Mind you all of this while she was seeing her Psychologist every week and Psychiatrist once a month. Both of these Doctors knew what was going on at home, neither of them reported it to the proper authorities. I have even been told by one of them that he was told, by Julie, that she ‘heard voices telling her to hurt the children’ but that she was proud that she could ignore the voices. Still, these Doctors reported nothing.
I should add here that it was at some point in this period of time in Julie’s life when her children began suicide watches over their mom… each one taking turns to sit in a room with her at all hours (night and day) because their mom was less-likely to hurt herself while they were here. However, it didn’t always work – Julie constantly took pills in front of them trying to either dope herself up or overdose, and she would even cut herself in front of the kids.
Finally one day, she woke up furious that her last suicide attempt didn’t work. She got violent with her oldest daughter, police were called, and finally DCF was called. (I would like to add that we (other family members) had called DCF in the past to report things, but some of the cases were ‘unfounded’ and one other time the fled the state knowing CF only had jurisdiction in Florida.) DCF removed the children from the home in November 2005 and I gained custody of the Children shortly thereafter.
There are lots of things I could add here about my sister, DCF, and the horrible Foster Care or Custodial Care program we are involved with. However, that is not my main reason for writing to you.
Kayte, the youngest, seems to be adjusting pretty well. She has a tendency to trivialize what her mom has done and the seriousness of it, but I think that is normal given that it is her mom. Kayte was in counseling, but she feels it’s ‘a waste of time’.
Justin, the middle child, is okay. As a young boy I'm told he was a terror. He used to hit his mother and at one point (only 6yo) tried to jump off a building to kill himself. Since then, his anger has turned in to an endless smothering of love and caring. He does everything for his mom… from getting her whatever she needs to rubbing her feet and back. Justin has seen a psychiatrist since moving in with me who felt that his issues were brought on by trauma. It was also at that visit with the psychiatrist that he confided in myself and the Doctor that he had suicidal thoughts often while living at home with his mom in her ‘state of being’ after his dad died. However, since he moved in with me he has done so much better (and continues to improve daily) that she didn’t feel he even needed counseling at this time. He would, however, need counseling before he was reunited with his mom.
Kayla, the oldest, has serious issues. She is also currently in counseling but feels that it is ‘a waste of time’. Kayla has always lied and stolen things. Family members feel sorry for her because you can tell that she doesn’t really mean any ill will by it, but it’s been ‘the way she is’ for a very long time. By far her biggest problems are lying and her need for approval by men (young and old).
Since the kids have moved in with us, my husband and I have set up rules. The kids already had myspace accounts, so we set ground rules for it. 1) We needed the login names and passwords. 2) Profiles must be set to private. 3) The only people they were allowed to have on their friends list was people that they actually knew. When Kayla’s list climbed over 300, and she was found to have inappropriate conversations (wanting to sneak out and ‘hook up’ with young men), we made everyone cut their list down to 30 friends, which included myself. 4) All vulgar language and inappropriate photos would come off immediately and would be monitored by myself at any given time. At times, they try to put up ‘sexy’ pictures which immediately need to come down.
However recently I have found that she has multiple website things going on in an attempt to pick up young men. I'll outline a few here so that you understand the gravity of the situation: 1) I found her 'normal' myspace account set to 'public view'. She has over 11,000 profile views(meaning people looking at her pictures and wanting to know more about her). I had reset it to private many times, but she keeps going back and resetting it to public. 2) I have found another myspace account which she went by the name 'Shannon' and used it to pick up young men, tease them, then later tell them that she was 'taken' but refer them to her 'cousin, Kayla'. She'd then give them all of Kayla's information. Of course thiswas also set to public. 3) I have found another social network website that was like myspace in which she had ONLY men (mostly from other states) as her 'friends' whom she corresponded with. The emails back and forth basically said the same thing as all of the others... more on that in #4 - only these were guys that not only did she not know, but they were not even in the area! 4) All accounts that I have found had basically the same thing... her emailing guys wanting to know if she was pretty, if they wanted to 'hook up', talking about going to their 'crib' or meeting up with them somewhere, and constantly seeking approval and affirmation from these guys.
I believe she gets this from her mom. And the sad thing is, if you met her, you would love her. She is truly a GREAT kid… but she has serious issues. I’ve described to you Julie’s behavior and Kayla’s seems to be the same way. Neither can make decisions on their own that are ‘the right thing to do’, and both lack the understanding of simple values, morals and ethics. I could go into so many examples. How do I describe the utterly amazing difference between Julie’s parenting style and my own?
I know... Both Julie and I have myspace accounts set up to ‘monitor’ the kids. To illustrate the difference between Julie and myself, here is something that Julie and I both put on our myspace accounts. You are supposed to put something 'about yourself' by your picture. Here is mine: "I'm 38 years old. I have two amazing kids, Amanda who is 20 and Jonathan who is 13. I have great husband, Chris. I love to sing - and have been singing in Toast of Tampa Show Chorus for 10 years. I'm raising my nieces and nephew (12, 13 and 14). I love God and my family."And here is Julie's: "I am who I am and if you dont like me for me........FUCK YOU........ Plus if you dont like me for me....... Im gunna tell my kids and there gunna kick yer ass!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Here’s the other dilemma we are having; the two girls are in counseling that is costing me $25 EACH in co-payments every time they go. The State of Florida provides NO financial support to me as a relative caregiver, other than providing the three kids with Medicaid. They received small SSI checks because of their dad’s death, but it barely covers the food they consume. The DCF worker, having spoke with the girls and being told that therapy is ‘a waste of time’, has referred me to a clinic that DCF uses for cases such as this to seek mental care for Kayla (aswell as the others). However, the kids have TriCare as their primary insurance because their dad died from Military causes. TriCare requires the co-payment, regardless of the Medicaid secondary. Having said that, please understand that I worked in referrals in a primary care physician’s office for 16 years… I totally ‘get’ what is required for primary and secondary insurances and all the red tape. But because of the uniqueness of this situation, the kids are suffering!
I should also point out here that I have the kids for an indefinite period of time. Right now Julie is doing things that she has been told to do to get the kids back. However, she is still awaiting a court ordered detailed Psychiatric exam to determine if she can EVER parent again. Even if that Psychiatrist feels she can parent again, she’ll most likely need to be ‘clean’ and ‘episode-free’ for 6 months to a year minimum. In addition, Julie is only allowed supervised visits and one phone call a day. This came about because of her inappropriate behavior when she was with the kids and because when she was allowed to call any time she’d call 10 + times a day.
The other problem with Julie ever getting her children back is that… she doesn’t understand what she did wrong. She parents as if she were 15-years old herself. If anyone has ever done something bad and been able to ‘keep’ their kids, she sees no reason she can’t do it. She brought her daughter at the age of 13 in for a HUGE tattoo on the small of her back. It’s Tigger flipping ‘the bird’ with her gang name under it. She was also planning on getting a large tattoo on her 12yo before the kids were taken. Again, she sees nothing wrong with any of her past behavior.
So, you see, I could have these children for the rest of their teenage years. I honestly don’t know where to turn to get them the help they need.
I feel as if I am in a psychiatric nightmare and I just can’t wake up. Eight months ago I was at home, my biggest ‘kid worry’ was if my son was going to get good grades on his report card. Now I find myself in a crux worried about whether or not the lessons I teach them, this late in their young life, are going to be enough to turn these kids around and help them to be productive adults in the near future.

Tina's Daily Blog

Friday, July 28, 2006

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year....

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