Ups, Downs & Visitation

Like every other weekend, I went to pick Hailey up at the designated meeting point (conveniently a 10 minute drive for her grandparents and a 90 minute drive for myself). Her grandfather met with Charlie and I and as usual, began his chatter. Oy that man can talk. I imagine he doesn't get to say much around his wife so instead, I get to hear it.

Apparently Hailey was sick last week with a "low grade fever" as he described it. Of course then he mentioned it was actually a fever of 103.5 and that most certainly isn't mild - especially considering that this is at least the 10th time this child has been sick since January. I only wish I were exaggerating. He tells me about her visit to the doctor and about her being put on antibiotics - as if the poor child doesn't have enough medication running through her veins. What's one more?

The issue I'm having is that all of this occurred last Wednesday and this is the first time I'm hearing about it - despite the fact that I communicated with her grandparents all last week regarding other medical issues Hailey is having and not once was any of this brought to my attention. I really just cannot understand that. It's not like I'm asking to be made aware of every sneeze or runny nose. But a temperature of 103.5 and another visitor to the doctor for more medication is a big enough event that I should be made aware. I have a home phone, cell phone and e-mail. They can always reach me.

Then Les starts telling me that a new DSS worker is involved with the case. Neither my lawyer nor the Guardian Ad Litem informed me of this. No DSS worker has contacted me and I provided everyone with my new telephone number. Apparently this case worker has already interviewed them and observed them with Hailey. That's twice now that DSS has done this and I have yet to be given the opportunity to defend myself or my parenting skills. Not that I need to, but I believe I have the right to do so.

I was under the impression that DSS was no longer involved. That's what I came to understand based on what my lawyer told me. They didn't file any claims. They came to my house, investigated and left. They even said that I should be granted the unsupervised visitation I was shooting for at the last hearing. Because let's face it - it never should have been supervised in the first place. Legally speaking, Hailey never should have been removed from my custody for this mess anyways. So naturally, I immediately wrote to both my lawyer and the GAL to ask what the heck is going on. I'm kind of wondering if either of them even know about this. I assumed someone would tell me this sort of information!

In more happy news...

I love having Hailey home. It's so comforting knowing that she's right here, playing with her toys and watching Noggin. Just having her here brings such a sence of calm and normalcy to this house that I crave the moment she's away.

Charlie and I took her to the park for about 30 minutes. It was super humid and it began to rain not 3 minutes after we packed up the truck and left. She had a great time and Charlie got to spend a little time with her before coming home. He made lunch for us and it's in the oven. He'll be asleep for most of the day since he hasn't been to bed yet from working until 3am. That man is amazing. He does so much for us.

Now it's time to go dance! :D