All change......

Change can be a difficult thing, or it can be an exciting opportunity.

We were tearing our hair out a year ago, thinking we should really move because the place is about to become too big, and so on.

It's funny how life can be a series of what appear unconnected positives neagatives and changes.

As the regulars will know we have had a bit of a time of it managing the changes or not as it may be.

But through this all we knew that change was coming.

Our ability to move was limited.

Here I will digress a little and talk about fostering regulations.

You see because we have 3 children placed with us, we need a 4 bedroom house to move into.

That is - 3 bedrooms so each looked after child can have their own and another bed room that means our family, all five of us do not share bedrooms with them.

OK so maybe I am over egging that a bit - but not by much.

Well today, OK a bit before we expected it we had a bit of a bombshell.

Young P's mum has got herself a proper flat where she can have him home.

This is pretty damn good overall.

He can go home to his mum.

She is now well enough to meet his needs.

It has been a long few years but by working together I think we all got there, us, his mum, and whatever social worker was passing through at the time.

We went head to head with them over their desire to see him adopted.

I am pretty sure that would have tipped her over the edge and he would have been heartbroken.

Trauma created, but boxes ticked.

But our decision not to sell was a good one.

It will be a tough year.

Make no mistake.

Losing P will hit my kids hard, to them he is not a "placement" "service user" or "client" he is "family".

I suspect to him he is that also.

Poor little bugger, how dare he be what he is, not what the authorities want him to be.

But of course we have social services who will allways "have the child at the centre of everything they do".

That's OK then.

They will make sure he is still in touch, make it their mission to enable continued contact with the new brothers and sister they gave him.

You would not send your child away from it's brothers and sisters and say "thats that mate off you go" not if you are a good parent.

Because of course YOU are not an abuser.

Oh dear.

Suddenly, I don't have a good feeling about this

This time next year though we will need a far smaller house.

So we can move.

Ohh hang on was there a child in there somewhere.

It's OK SS will have him at the centre of what they do.

Lord Laming said they must do that.

He said that a few years back too.

They listened then too....


R