What a blessing that lawyer has been. He has made the Child Protective Service people take a step back and remember what their job is. Don't get me wrong, I am happy they are here, if not, thousands of children would be abused every year. My problem lies in the fact that my children are not abused. The attorney that I hired told me that I could take this to court right now, and any judge will throw it out because after three months, the only allegation of abuse is from that horrible school. So he gave me the option of either telling them to take a hike and take me to court, or I could agree to cooperate for a little longer, maybe two-three weeks, and tell them if they found nothing, they had to fully drop the case. Oh, the temptation to just tell them to take it to court was so tempting. I just want this over. My kids and family just want this over. I decided to take a weekend to think about it. And to talk it over with my kids, after all, this does involve them.

So, we sat down and talked about what we would do. My fiancee is tired of the entire situation, and is ready to go to court. My kids said that they wanted it over now, that they were tired of being asked confusing questions. My son is still upset over the last visit where he thought he did good, only to have that lady tell him to his face he was scared to live here. He said he wasn't, and my daughter told her that she didn't like her very much! So, now, here is where a level headed mama has to prevail. Do I really want the stress of even a quick court case...one that will remain on a record...no, I don't. But I will if I have to. So, Monday morning, I called my sons attorney, and this is the plan that we came up with.

 I set up a meeting with the caseworker, and her boss. And they in turn brought a family therapist. They told me that they wanted me on a 90 day family therapy plan, where this therapist came to my home 2-3 times a week, and after 90 days they would decide if my family needed further services or education. I then told them how it was going to be. I told them that I would agree to have the family therapist come into my home twice a week for two weeks, he was free to witness what went on in my family, but that there would be no more questioning my children without their lawyer present. That I appreciated all their 'services' and 'education', but that these were things that were put into place for families that had noted abuse going on, and after three months, they still have found no abuse going on in my home. And that, after two weeks, they could either drop the case completely, or they could take me to court. At first, my caseworker (who was the one who told me on the last visit that "No one twisted my arm to make me move here!") didn't like this idea, and tried to tell me that after two weeks they would determine if I needed further services. I once again informed her that I didn't need services now, and I was cooperating to be nice, but if they pushed me, they could take me to court right now, and I would win. All of the sudden, her boss was really OK with putting a 90 day program into a 2 week period.

Through this whole meeting, I was so nervous. I don't usually like to stand up to people this way, and there were three of them and only one of me present. It was a little unnerving. So, I pulled out my calendar to set up the first two meetings, and made sure that they would work for everyone. Then informed them that I would be notifying my children's attorney in case he would like to be present for these sessions. That really seemed to put the damper on them. And then, the therapist spoke for what seemed like the first time, when he asked me what school my children had been in. I told him, and he shook his head and told me that he didn't like that principle either, and had had problems with him in the past, and was happy he had retired!!

So, all of this drama over a bitter old man who felt I had attacked the education standards in his school. Which I did. I think the stress that this has caused my family, and continues to cause my family is a ridiculous problem. I hope that by the time this hub challenge is over, I will have been able to write a finaly chapter to this story of how the system has abused my family, and still would be had I not stood up to them. I want to thank this attorney, who charged me one fee, and doesn't bill by the hour, to help me to accomplish this. Today he called me to tell me how proud he was of me and how I stood up to them, and that he will be in the sidelines for my children for as long as I need them, even after this is over. I look forward to writing the next chapter, and pray it will be the last!