Caelyn's Friends and Neighbours

Caelyn was at school with a girl I will call Bobbie. She is married to Mike and they have a daughter about the same age as Wendy.

Mike and Bobbie suffered a stillbirth late last year, and apart from that, the old grandpa is dying. They both work, but due to all the upset, they are behind with their rent. Their boiler packed up before winter started and they have had no hot water or heating. The landlord will not repair the boiler until they are up to date with their rent. He has finally sent them Notice to Quit. Not very nice, but not unexpected.

What was unexpected and frankly very low, was that Mike and Bobbie got a letter from Social Services saying that they would need to come and inspect because the Landlord had reported them for neglecting their baby. The Social Workers are due to come tomorrow.

The Landlord has not in fact seen the child, but he knows that they have no hot water or heating because he knows he hasn't fixed the boiler.

Mike and Bobbie are very upset, but the child looks visibly well nourished, a good weight for her height with rosy cheeks. She is confident and outgoing, talks well and is ahead of some of her milestones. Caelyn can confirm that the baby baths at her house and that she has loaned them two electric heaters to keep the baby's room warm. Mike baths at Caelyn's too, and Bobbie baths at work as she works in a Care Home. Objectively speaking, there are no grounds for removing the baby, but these are Social Workers who are not the most reasonable creatures on the planet.

Bobbie has taken the Notice to Quit to the Council and they are top of the list for a Council House. Perhaps the Social Worker's endorsement could help with that application.

Caelyn and Nigel are over there at the moment, helping Mike to blitz the place, as Bobbie is at work. Caelyn said they turned up unannounced this afternoon, and found that the baby was in her normal childcare placement and that Bobbie was at work. It is sneaky to turn up out of the blue like that, and I don't trust them as far as I can spit backwards. I'm reminded of the legendary late Aspinall who founded Port Lympne and Howletts Zoos. He was criticised for taking his newborn grandchildren into the gorilla cage and he said they were much safer in the hands of gorillas than in the hands of social workers, and really, I think the man had a very valid point.

So tomorrow will be crucial. Let us pray that the social workers will
a) be honest and
b) see things as they really are and not as the spiteful and negligent landlord would have them believe.

Caelyn has complained about dangerous electrical wiring a couple of times and it hasn't been fixed but she is too scared to carry on complaining because she is scared to death that they will get reported to social services too.

What kind of world is this????