brief update (with very little punctuation)

the kids behaved, mostly. the lady was there for about 2.5 hours, which is a really long time to keep two little girls behaving, especially after a week with a houseful of people, weather so cold that they havent been out for awhile and on a day when special programs at church were canceled so they had to sit through all of church.

dixie was so incredibly silly. the social worker asked how old she was, she answered seven. she was asked to spell her name and spelled it LACEEY. uh-huh. the entire time she was pretending to be a baby kitty or a baby. for a bit there in the middle she forgot to be goofy long enough to be regular dixie. but the poor kid had been required to be good so much in the past week. it is always hard when grandma comes and goes and it is also hard when strange people come to her house and want her mommy and daddy's attention, especially for a really long time.

i think it went well. she didnt seem appalled by any of our answers and seemed very positive. she interacted with the girls a bit at first, then sent them off to play while talking to us as we fed charlie. then i went in with the girls while she talked to dowlan alone. then she gave us a mountain of paperwork and took the girls in individually to talk to them.

she'll be back next tuesday for a follow-up and to talk to me individually. it will be while dixie is at school and charlie is napping, so we will just have melody to contend with and i will stick her on the little mermaid game or something.

after she left i realized how completely exhausted i am. i spent three days baking and cleaning, then three days entertaining and cooking and cleaning for about fifteen people. then a day decorating for christmas and a day cleaning for this event.

i realized i havent slept a good nights' sleep in a really long time. before the week of thanksgiving was week after week of illness, and before that, perpetual catastrophe.

so i fully intend to sleep for at least a week the children learn that they really do need a mommy as they attempt to care for themselves.