Warning: I just finished writing this post and it is a bummer. I apologize. However, I am horrible at journaling and I need some way to be able to remember these things.
Yesterday I was doing some paperwork and I noticed one of my patients had the birthday September 11, 2001. I showed my coworker who commented, "There must be some bad juju. That explains it." I had never met anyone with that birthday, much less birthdate before.
At the end of my shift yesterday another patient was going "home." He is this incredibly cute 6 year old. Before you go off the deep end of, "Why are 6 year olds in a psych hospital??" I agree with you. It is crazy. But for the most part, it isn't a problem the kid has, but rather their parents (or lack thereof).
Anyway, back to the 6 year old. He was actually going to a foster home, which I thought he realized, especially due to the fact that a case worker was the one picking him up. Apparently he didn't make the connection. When I got to work this morning, he was back. When I questioned what had happened I was told he didn't realize he wasn't going back to his grandmother's house, so he threw a fit, including scratching, kicking, and hitting his foster parents and tried to run away. So, he came back to his second choice behind his grandma's house- a psych hospital.
Today I worked with some adolescents for a bit and one of them has been there for almost three weeks, with no idea of when he is going home. He told me about another boy on the unit who was going to be sent to some immigration office when he left the hospital, so he was wanting to stay as long as possible.
People- children should not have to deal with things like this! It is such a horrifying thought of how horrible the world has become, and how horrible it can still get.
Today I was playing a game with some of the kids. We would pick questions at random and have to answer. One of my questions was, "If you had one wish, what would it be?" I didn't tell my real wish, but if I did have a wish, it would be that there isn't a need for my job...
Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I love these kids (well, some of them I only just barely tolerate), and I love working with them. It is a difficult job, but so fascinating to me, and I am glad I get to be doing it again (compared to research *barf*).
4 comments:
Wow, Traci. You (or at least, I) never think of stuff like that going on all around me. You are amazing.
I'm very grateful there are compassionate people like you to be some sort of 'buffer' for these little children in what has been a very harsh world for them!
So glad that you posted this....It is hard to think of what some of these young children must be going through.
So wonderful that you are enjoying your work. You deserve the best :)
Loves JO
After seeing and hearing the stories Jake's family has had with kids over the years, I totally understand this post. It makes me appreciate all I have and treat my kids as kids and not the horror so many have to go through. I am thankful for your job and for the compassion you can give to these kids so if they are ever in a tough spot in the future they can look back at the memory of you and know that they do know love. :)
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