After Saturday's long, but shockingly not so horrible class, we had high hopes that tonight's class wouldn't be as gloomy as expected. We were wrong. What a tough tough subject to cover. Especially when we know we're so close to having to deal with it in "real-time".
We started off by going over three scenarios of real cases and writing down how we felt about the child, the abuser, the parent, etc. Those three cases took up over an hour and a half. We were some angry classmates. I think we all had a hard time wrapping our heads around the fact that this stuff goes on and how often it happens. One of guys in class is a cop and shared some tough stories. One couple has kids from a very tough story about a family member. The rest of us sat in quiet disgust and sadness.
The second half of class went fairly quickly. There wasn't much change in our attitudes....but it went a lot quicker. I did learn a lot about how to handle some very tough situations differently than I would naturally try to handle them. But overall an emotionally, tough, draining session tonight.
On a positive note - Wednesday the case worker is coming for our home-study. To say we aren't nervous would be a lie. And it's an excited nervousness I think. We aren't nervous that we're going to do or say something wrong. It's just is THIS is the 3 hour interview that determines what kind of kids get offered the chance to come and stay with us. THIS is the time that controls how all case workers see and perceive us. Pretty big deal.
Two more classes that seem to be much lighter subjects than a lot of the last 7. It's the home stretch and we're more than ready for it.
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