When CPS comes for a visit

I debated writing about this--
mostly out of embarrassment...
but as stated in my title--"LIFE HAPPENS" and this is my life--honest and true...
I mean--what good mom has CPS come for a visit?
Well just for the record--this one did. Not that i am a perfect mom

--UMMM--no way, now how,
but i do NOT warrant a visit from people who are the watch dogs of parenting.

It all started with a card at our door...
we were left perplexed but there was no note attached and none of the kids knew anything about it...we let it go at that and did nothing with it--
So yesterday i received a call from a gentleman at CPS stating that he needed to come out and meet with me--a complaint had been filed on little man coming to school with a dirty face

and soiled diapers....and they worried about neglect.

I was SHOCKED
--hurt--
upset,
and then (excuse my french)
just PISSED!!!

Give me a break!
First and foremost even before he is a child with special needs
he is a BOY
--a seven year old BOY...
who loves the dirt.

At grandma's house his favorite pass time is to sit in the holes that his friend Turbo the Dog has dug for him. Turbo sits by and watches as my boy appreciates his handy work--smoothing it out--
I have given up trying to stop him--does that make me a bad mom? Have you ever tried to keep a boy clean and spotless--not an easy task. I will admit--sometimes he does have a dirty face--

but that is only after he has already had a shower for the day and started out in clean clothes. Never has he gone to school in already dirty clothes--they start out clean everyday--but come on people.... a dirty face?

Does this dirty face look neglected?

--that my friends is a face of happiness...

This kid bathes/showers more than my 12 year old (not that that is hard to do) In fact i told the guy from CPS that if that was a benchmark they should be taking the 12 year old away--we have to constantly stay on him to get him to shower these days--i will be happy when the summer is here and there is pool water involved--not that that constitutes bathing but at least the water will be touching his skin and he will realize he won't melt away...I digress....

As far as the dirty diapers go---lets talk shall we? If he could control his bowel movements he would not be in diapers...I have NO control when he goes...again he starts out in a clean one--and while we are on the subject what about the fact most days he comes home off the bus POOP-EE? Do you see me filling a complaint? I might complain but i do not seek out the authorities for this....

When little man was in Preschool i would often get a call from the school nurse anytime he would show up with a new bruise. It really bothered me at first and once i even made the comment "have you seen the kid walk?" He was not the most stable child--he even gave his aid nightmares about falling...and I soon realized that they had to document everything for their protection...Did CPS ever show up then? NO!!!

It bothered me to think i was wasting the time of someone who was already overtaxed,and taking him away from children who really do need his services. He told me that they get a lot of referrals like this that amount to nothing....and that as soon as he left he would forget me. It bothers me to think that everyone can scrutinize me and the job i am doing and if they don't like it they can place a call. If they think having a child with special needs is easy--have at it. They can borrow him for a day, even a few hours and see how crazy he can make your life...and how clean you can keep his face...

Can i also comment that never mind the fact that he has therapists(yes, that's plural) that come into our home on a weekly basis and if they saw him being neglected/abused they would be the first to call--or how about his case manager that i meet with on a quarterly basis--no calls being made there....

More than anything I was hurt...while the man from CPS cannot say who filed the complaint it was evident to me that someone from his school did. It upset me that the people i put my trust in to take care of him do not trust me. In my mind i know that they do this to protect children but COME ON--neglect? He won't let you neglect him--and if you happen to--he tears up the house--even when you are watching him he is the TASMANIAN DEVIL....He has 6 others that love him and watch out for him on a constant basis

--more than most kids have...
he his happy...

he is healthy
and he is a BOY.....

he gets dirty...

but not because he is neglected!