My daughter has to create a theater company with a group for school. They must write, direct, produce, etc a musical from start to finish. They are choosing to do their production based on my littlest kiddos birth mom, her schizophrenia, and her pregnancy.
She asked me to contact the birth family and ask if they would be ok with this, willing to sign releases, and be interviewed. She plans to get started soon. So far everyone agrees and is happy to help.
Oh…but not without a bit of manipulation first.
See…if you have followed me for awhile, you already know my little was adopted thru foster care. I have had him since he was able to leave the hospital as a newborn. But his case was long, and he was not legally adopted until just before age 2.
Because of the long, drawn out case, and some breaches of trust along the way, I only allow visits with me or my husband present. Don’t get me wrong, I think they are nice grandparents. However, they live an hour away, so it makes sense to stay during visits. Also, because the case started in foster care, we weren’t respected as his parents for quite some time. Hence, the trust issue.
So…the email agreeing to sign a release and discuss things for my daughter’s project came with a request to have alone time with the little.
Obvious manipulation.
So what can I do? This is my girls final project for graduation. They want to raise awareness about mental health. Their idea is good.
But, I will not cave to manipulation when it comes to my kiddos.
So, I gave a “Oh, we will surely figure out a plan…” noncommittal response to pacify the situation until it comes up again.
I hate when people try to manipulate me. I am too old to play these games.
licensedtoparent 