Thursday, March 4, 2010

Comic Relief?

I've been looking for a distraction...this is not exactly what I had in mind.

Normally, yesterdays events would have been a crisis. But because of the heaviness of this week, it was almost comic relief. Almost.

A little background information:
  • On Sunday, Parker somehow banged his face on the pew in front of him at church and scored himself a serious black eye. I didn't see it happen. Reid and I were home sick from church.
  • Parker caught what Reid and I had and stayed home from school Monday and Tuesday.
  • Spencer teased Parker about his shiner and told him people were gonna think his dad punched him.
See where this is going?

When Parker arrived back at school after missing several days, his teacher questioned him about his nasty black eye. Parker decided to tell the teacher that his dad punched him. She asked him over and over again and though his story was inconsistent, he remained true to the fact that it came from his dad.

Yesterday evening I got a knock on the door from a friendly stranger. She turned out to be a social worker from Columbus Children's Services.

My house was a wreck...remember, I had been painting. I had neglected the rest of the days duties in order to paint. There was a basket of unfolded laundry in my living room. Tons of toys and art supplies covering the floor. My ENTIRE KITCHEN was in my small living room. I was ignoring my kids and letting the TV babysit for the time being. It was disastrous.

She had to interview me thoroughly and then the kids one at a time. She quickly ruled out interviewing Gray because he was so young. But when interviewing Reid, all he could do was lift up his shirt and sing his favorite belly button song. I had no time to prep Parker. I quickly told him to tell the truth...whatever she asked.

Luckily he did and our stories matched up. It didn't sound good when I told her I didn't witness the incident at church. My husband left the house with Parker and Gray (the kid too young to tattle) and Parker came back bruised.

While the social worker was here, she was required to check the bedrooms to make sure everyone had a bed and look in my fridge and cupboards to make sure I had food. The whole thing was quite intrusive.

It's just so odd to think about Spencer as an abuser. He is the gentle, compassionate, sentimental, nurturing one in our relationship. This is so far from his demeanor. Parker's teacher knew that and apologized profusely. But she is required by law to report things like that. She luckily knows Spencer and I and told Children's Services that one, Parker was acting like he was lying. And two, she would not suspect it from our family.

I asked Parker why he lied. He assumed since no one at school goes to our church that no one at school would know what church was. He was too shy to try to explain that to them. Since Spencer had put it into his head that people would think his dad hit him, that was the quickest lie he could conjure up. He's gonna have to get over that if he ever plans to be a missionary. Plus it instigated a nice chat on the importance of being honest.

So our family is under investigation for the next 30 days. A social worker could pop by at any time. It's a little unnerving. We had to nix Parker jumping off the top bunk last night. A broken leg would not look good. We told him to wait until April.

I did shed a couple tears...I'm emotionally charged right now. I have also had a few chuckles over this. But I won't get a good laugh out of it until these 30 days are up and we're in the clear.

It's just the cherry on top.

17 comments:

Melissa + Brett said...

You have got to be kidding me!!?? I'm laughing, but sitting with my mouth hanging open too.

Genn said...

Oh my gosh Katie! This sounds just like an episode of The Middle. The little boy tells his teacher that the bandage on his arm is because his dad threw a beer bottle at him, and consequently, an unexpected visitor comes to interview their family too.

I can't imagine how unnerving that would be. I hope this does give you a good laugh once these 30 days are up. And hopeully Parker learned a valuable lesson.

You poor thing!

jeanine said...

Oh Katie! That's the last thing you needed right now! I hope these 30 days fly by.

ps I had to chuckle that you told Parker to wait to jump off the bunk until April :)

Eric said...

Seriously... it's hysterical and at the same time I can't believe what I'm reading. I would die if that happened to me. What a week you've had. Your life is definitely anything but boring with those 3 little boys.

Traci Elizabeth said...

SERIOUS!?! wow, what timing.

Kelly said...

Timing is everything! WOW- how on earth do you get such good experiences?! You are too much! Those boys are super fun- and though it isn't too funny for real, I am smiling! Seriously, timing with it all and your house a mess- my word! You are still in our thoughts and prayers- we just said them, and Leah wanted to know why you weren't at church on Sunday- I said you were sick and she said she was sorry....you are loved...

J, E, S & L said...

What's the saying?? When it rains it poors...

Cynthia said...

Yikes! kind of funny, but kind of not. Bad bad timing though. Hope you have smooth sailing for the next 30 days!

Kelly said...

holy cow, i cant believe a social worker actually had to come to your house! you, of all people! funny story... im glad you got a laugh. hang in there!

Lisha said...

WOW! Really? You need to write a book. The stories you tell about your kids....they could be making you some BIG bucks!

Suzanne said...

Hilarious! I'm glad you got a good laugh out of it and shared it with us so we too could get a good laugh. I'll have to remember this if my kids go to school with a black eye!

AshnRuss said...

Katie! Why does all the fun stuff happen to you? Just kidding! I would be wreck! Just by talking to you the social worker had to know that nothing was going on. You should have given her the link to your blog and she would have seen how awesome all of you are!

Amanda B. said...

Holy Cow, Katie!!!!!!!!! That is just unreal!!! Oh, my! I hardly know what to say! I guess as time goes by, you will have a great story to hang over his head!
When I was 5 or so, my dad was pretending to be monster- just playing before bedtime- and chasing us through the house. I climbed up on my brothers head board and he pulled me down onto the bed- again, just being silly. Well, on my way down, I hit a nail in the wall and gashed my head open and needed stitches. The ER doc asked how it happened and so I answered honestly that my daddy did it... my parents got investigated then too....

(and what fries me to no end is cases like this that are clearly NOT abuse get investigated while there are children daily abused and nothing happens till they end up dead.... just sad....)

amelia said...

Katie, how do you have such a great outlook? This is beyond crazy. I would be a wreck - I'm impressed you can look on it and laugh.

sharon kaye said...

Your story gave us something to talk to Jacob about.
We are continuing to pray for Mike and your family. Keep us informed.

Kris said...

Oh Katie...what else can happen!! You poor thing. I have been watching my blog roll for an update on your brother, and did not see this post of yours until just now. You didn't put an update in this post. How is he????

Autumn said...

Seriously, this is too nuts. I have to say, it is kind of funny though-it wouldn't be if you were the type of parents who would do something like that but since you're not...it makes it funny. Glad Parker didn't make the bed jump! AH!