The Visit *updated*

Well to start, the social worker showed up right on time, and as she was walking up to the house I noticed through the window that I had gone to high school with her! We graduated in the same class and were friends, but we weren't close, and in general we didn't hang out with the same people.

She hadn't recognized my name since I have obviously gotten married so she was equally surprised that it was me! She was very nice, and things got off on a good foot.

My house minus our master bedroom is spotless at the moment. I am sitting here typing this with zero guilt that I am not cleaning our house... it's a rare occurrence. :)

So I took her around to the places where J is on a regular basis when he is here, and she seemed pleased with everything. We went down to the basement to show her where we spend most of our play time when J is here, and then we sat on the couches down there while the girls played so that she could ask questions and take some notes.

She asked me about my relationship with J's parents, and she also made a point to tell me that J's parents never accused me in any way. She also asked about my impression of J's dad, and I said that he is very particular and definitely type A, but that I felt that he was a very attentive parent. She said that she agreed with my assessment, and then she asked me if I had noticed anything different about J when he was there that day. I said no and recounted the last 15 minutes of his day here including when I changed his diaper and how he pulled up on the couch just minutes before his mom arrived.

She said that the doctor said that the type of break that J has is actually not uncommon in babies who are becoming mobile and learning to pull up, and according to the social worker, the doctor's office hesitated to even report this particular case since it didn't initially strike them as an abuse or negligence case.

It turns out that the social worker was responsible for the case not being transferred to my county because she felt that she already had a good read on the situation, and she felt that she was more than capable of carrying out the investigation. I think she was concerned about things getting misconstrued by a new investigator.

The only thing that made me uncomfortable about the whole visit was that according to the social worker, I am officially listed  on the case report as the suspected perpetrator. It seems that since they ruled out J's parents, I was the next logical suspect. My stomach twisted when I heard her say that, but she then said that she is satisfied that I am not responsible for the injury, and she feels that it probably occurred with J landing on it wrong when he plopped down after pulling up, and she doesn't think it happened here.

If my mind wasn't still spinning over the fact that my name was officially listed as the main suspect in a child abuse investigation, the next part would have sounded so much sweeter... She said her investigation is done, and the case will be officially closed by the end of the week.

Unfortunately, this will be on my record for 6 months, but after that it will be erased and expunged.

So all in all, the visit went as well as can be expected, and I am just very thankful that this is behind me. I cannot thank you enough for your prayers! Knowing that you all were praying for me helped my nerves leading up to the visit.

I am SO relieved!!!!! :)

UPDATE: As much as it stinks to have this on my record for 6 months, I am thinking it might be just the excuse I need to tactfully tell J's parents that I want to stop watching him. I can easily say that since the investigation is now on my record, I am not comfortable watching children in my home anymore. Going forward, if something were to happen while J is in my care, I would only be further implicated because of the previous investigation. And that is just not a risk I am willing to take at this point.

How does that sound, ladies?