We got readied for contact. The babies had been fed, changed and dressed as had we. The car was then loaded with babies, bags and other things required for the journey. We got in the car and drove literally 20 yards when my phone rang and it was the Local Authority Social Worker (LASW) saying that contact was cancelled as they had not been able to get hold of her to confirm she was attending, which was part of the arrangement. So we turned around and drove back on to the drive and unloaded everything. It was frustrating for us but the babies were oblivious as they were both fast asleep. Still, it would have been a lot more annoying to drive all the way there and all the way home. We spent the rest of the day just chilling out. We updated our log and spoke to our Supervising Social Worker (SSW) to make sure they were aware of the morning’s events. The following day we had a GP appointment for L, the eldest, just to check him over as there had been concerns regarding his development and a possible reason behind this. My stepdaughter, our nominated carer, looked after baby T whilst we took L to his appointment. The GP gave him a thorough examination and decided he wanted to refer him to a Consultant for a more considered opinion. Again, we updated our logs and made everyone aware what was happening. We weren’t expecting the appointment to come through quickly but we received a call the following day, from the Consultant’s secretary, asking if we were free the following week for L’s appointment. So we agreed on a day and time and booked it in our diary. An hour later we received a call from the LASW saying that Mum had reappeared and had asked for contact, the same day as L had his Consultant’s appointment. The LASW said that she would try to rearrange Mum and get back to us. I said to my wife that I thought Mum would ‘kick off’ and sure enough she did. The LASW called us shortly afterwards to tell us that Mum wasn’t happy and that she wanted contact on that day and that day only. Fortunately the LASW was made of strong stuff and told Mum, in no uncertain terms, that L’s health was important and that she would have to rearrange if she wanted to see the children. Mum didn’t appreciate this and hung up. We thought that L was making good progress and he was certainly more able to do things than he was when he arrived. He was certainly more mobile and was able to do more age appropriate stuff now. Having his little sister with him had made him a lot more curious and wanting to watch what was going on. He was always quick to smile but we were aware that his ‘lazy’ eye had given the impression that he was in some way ‘not right’. The GP had stated the same when we visited him and we told him that we had an ophthalmic appointment booked for this to be looked at. The poor little lad was going to be poked and probed over the next couple of weeks but it was all positive for his health and his vision.
Recent Comments