Word for the Day: Custody

Sunday, after having been gone to Kingston for Thanksgiving, Moriah sat in her room and played with her Barbies. They were all sitting around in her room like some sort of beauty queen convention. They were even seperated into social groups; you know, The Malibu Group, The Fairytopia Group, The Superhero Group, and the Social Outcasts (the ones whose origin cannot be established any longer or they aren't really Barbies at all). Ken was there too. He always hangs out with the girls.

A Barbie convention all by itself would not be too stressful or devastating. It was the apparent cyclone that had accompanied the convention. I expressed my concern in a calm manner over the obvious natural disaster that had struck because we had just arrived home that afternoon and it would not have been possible for ALL of those things to have been dragged out of the closets and strewn about the room. There could only be one of two explanations: natural disaster or "we've been robbed." And, since none of our stuff appears to have been "jack'd," it has to have been a twister.

Moriah has never been one to comprehend the whole "Clean your room!" concept. We usually try to approach it with baby steps; one small event at a time until the room is straight. While this usually works, it takes too long and doesn't fill my need for instant gratification.

I explained to Moriah that if her dolls were not out of the floor by morning she would most definitely lose custody of them. "What is custody?" I explained to her in elementary terms what custody meant and proceeded to give her a lesson in the antics of social services when we don't care for the blessings that God has given us. Followed by a reiteration of the definition of "foster care."

Monday morning, she had forgotten all of this. Had she not listened!? Am I shouting (not actually shouting, I wouldn't do that **bashful grin with my fingernail in my teeth**) into the wind? It sadden me deeply. But, I had to stick to my guns! No more spinelessness. I went into her room and got down on my knees.

One by one, I gathered their helpless little bodies into my arms. Some were clothed with swimsuits, some fully clothed, others tops and no bottoms and vice versa, and still others were completely naked. And, then.....bless his heart, there is Ken! There were 20 gathered in my arms. Twenty? Is that all!?!! How could that be? There must be more somewhere in the muck! Nope! The rest was mere aftermath of the storm. There were two small "Kelly" dolls on the floor still....but come on, I'm not totally heartless; even the Mormons left the small ones at Mountain Meadows.

Last night, I walked in Moriah's room. She had misplaced her progress reports that had to be returned to school. Is it any wonder? I started to help her look for them and then I stopped. "Moriah, I specifically remember telling you that I was done cleaning your room for you all by myself!" This was followed by a lecture on how we had only been home from Thanksgiving for 3 days and she was already growing mold and losing things in her room. There wasn't even a blank spot where the Barbies once lay!

She found the progress reports and as I signed them I started talking about the conversation of Sunday night about "Custody" and "Foster Care." She claims to recall something about it. I asked her where her Barbies were. She retorted, "In the drawers...where they belong!" That little head shake that she has acquired somewhere over the past four years! ARGHHH!!!!
"Are you sure?" I asked. "YES!" Ohmigosh! More head shaking...this time with a snarl!
I questioned how the Barbies could be in the drawers where they belonged when most of the drawers were scattered around the room.

She ran to her closet! Oh! The deafening sound of plastic and glass breaking and metal bending as it is trampled under feet. Could it be? Had Mom actually finally flipped her lid and threw her stuff away? I witnessed the oncoming birth of an attitude which was quickly aborted by the reminder of the word "CUSTODY!"

"Why? why? why? They are my family! I take care of them! They have no one but me!" By the way, that is not an embellished statement! She actually said that to me!!!! Just what are Hannah Montana and Drake and Josh covering in their story lines these days? Where does this stuff come from? You can't make that up! That came from the heart.

But, it was too late. Cruella had struck. The puppies were gone!

"When we are entrusted with caring for things, such as family, and we fail to do so. Sometimes, when it gets really really bad, someone comes in and takes them away. They aren't gone. They have gone to live in a safe place until we get our ACTS together. Your beloved family has been gone for 3 days and you didn't even notice."

"Acts? What acts?" I'm so glad she asked because it's been so long since I was able to exercise my social work skills. I continued.............

"Sometimes one must attend classes that teach us how to care for our entrusted ones. Sometimes we must merely clean up our environment. Once it has been approved by the court, then and only then, can our beloved ones be returned to us." Amen! So it has been said, so, it shall be done!

Throughout the night, I heard crying. Not just crying. Crying isn't a strong enough word but I'm not sure what the Hebrew word for 'whimpering that gradually progresses into crying out to the mountains to fall on you while pulling the hair and gnashing the teeth' actually is. That would be a more accurate description of the emotions that were oozing under the door to her room. So, thank you King James for simplifying things like....crying.

It was hard on me. I won't go as far as to say it was harder on me than it was on her; but it was hard nonetheless and started getting annoying after a few hours (okay, that was a little heartless).

This morning, I arose from my slumber. I walked into her room. Much to my astonishment, there is carpet in her room! The sun was shining. The birds were singing. The flowers were blooming. It was there for the whole world to see! Gosh bess 'er! (That is borrowed from Luke's prayers.) I have no idea where all of that "stuff" went. I know that the investigators will discover it before the children are returned. After the court approves, they will come back home and another social tragedy will have been diverted. You know, until the next time.