Things I have learnt...

Social workers work at their own pace; and even when you think you are getting somewhere, it's never as fast as you would like.

That 7 years of infertility teaching you patience isn't enough... you can never be patient enough. I thought I'd learnt this, but apparently not.

Switching social workers just after panel means that you second guess yourself. Is it alright to call, to email. With our old social worker I would have done it with no concerns, no second guessing - but now... 'am I being too pushy'

That things that you hear that sound awful when you first hear them; can seem liveable with, with you've lived with them for a while.

That life carries on around you, no matter what.

That my DH was as happy as I was to hear from our social worker today, to arrange an appointment to meet boy-o's social worker next week.

That I love that man so much for all the comfort he's given me. That he lets me talk, and talk, and talk even when he doesn't want to. Because in this instant, he's the only one I could talk about boy-o to.