Monday, April 05, 2010

Wow...just wow.

[Does anyone actually read this blog anymore?]

This past Thursday (yes, April Fool's Day and the middle of Passover), Josh and I met with our new social worker. We decided to schedule the meeting during Passover because: a) the house would be at its cleanest and,
b) Josh had the whole week off to help me with cleaning and preparing.

I can't get over how great she was.

We sat for just over two hours (she even ate my all-too-dry passover cake and said it was delicious) and talked about *everything* - including what's going on with our agency...

She wasn't a "typical" social worker, or at least what I've come to know as "typical" over the past 4+ years. She wasn't stiff (again, unlike the cake), she was *gasp* human. We talked, laughed, joked about things. It was totally bizarre, but in a good way.

She went over our original home study, page by page, but really only touched on the major points. She didn't even bother to comment on our first update because there really wasn't any substance to it. A few comments were made about our previous social workers (by her), which made me snort. ;)

When we got around to the topic of education, Josh mentioned that he had gotten his MBA during the time we were doing our original homestudy and that he had spent three weeks at Cranfield University. Our social worker's mouth dropped open. She told us that her second daughter was born on the grounds of the university (in a res). It was all a little bizarre considering how small the university is (in case anyone is familiar with the area, it's near Milton-Keynes). They spent about 15 minutes talking about the scenery, etc.

At the end of the meeting, we asked her if she wanted to see the rest of the house. She looked at me, and said that "your previous social worker saw it two years ago, that's good enough for me." (I wish I had known that before we cleaned it from top to bottom). :P

She told me to let her know when we're close (about a month or two before we think we'll get our referral). She actually schedules her vacations around referrals, so if she knows she's got a client who is getting theirs, she'll make sure she's in town.

We had such an enjoyable (I never thought that was possible) time with our social worker that when she left, I had to stop myself from hugging her. If any of the GTA folk need a social worker, leave me a comment and I'll pass her info on to you...

I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again, THANK YOU, LISA for giving us her name. We seriously can't thank you enough.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can I switch to do the post placement stuff? I hate our social worker. I actually dislike her enough I might ask CB what would be involved in switching.

Middle-Aged Moi said...

Man. We could have used her when we did our home study.....:-)

Special K said...

Yes.. still reading.

Fabulous news about your new social worker. It's always refreshing to hear of things going RIGHT in this process. I know you get that. :)

D & S said...

That is great! It's nice when a SW gets it.

4D said...

About time you got a break with the SW insanity!

Keep smilin!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, someone good in the universe. You deserved someone good.

Lisa said...

Rhonda it was our PLEASURE to put you onto Angela. I just wish we had known you guys when you had started. She'll be a dream to work with when you get your referral. She looks after everything!!

Michele said...

Yes I am still here and am glad something on this road is going better for you.

Unknown said...

Yep, still reading your stuff, so no chance of getting away ;) I think about you and your Little Maple enough that I'm not letting you skip out! I need all info!