Getting Logistics of Weekend Visitations

So the judge has ordered extended, unsupervised visitation for the twins and their two young siblings. The Big Sister still is not included in the case, as she will not be returning to the cousins' home.

For right now, the schedule is this: 1st, 3rd, and 5th Saturdays, from 12:00 noon until 6:00 p.m. We are to take the twins to the CPS office in South San Antonio a couple of minutes before, to help with transferring and bathroom breaks and all. The family waiting is supposed to be there fifteen minutes early, stationed in a waiting room inside, then wait ten or fifteen minutes after we leave before they exit the building. The same logistics are supposed to be followed at pick-up at the end of the visit as well.

The caseworker asked if transporting would be a problem. I thought about it for a second, and then explained that it wasn't necessarily a problem, but that committing to all that driving was a big endeavor for us, using a lot of gas, and if transportation was being offered, we would appreciate it.

The human side of me wanted to whine that this is not a normal plan, that our other cases have never had this many visits, and never any unsupervised visits this far away from the final court date. And the problem isn't so much the quantity of the visits as the length of these new extended visits - six hours isn't a lot of time, but getting to the office is almost an hour's drive one-way, which means we have to figure out something to do in the meantime between drop-off and pick-up, or else we're spending almost four hours in the car driving every other Saturday. Plus, the timing is over nap time, so either our other two kids don't get a nap, or we try to get them to sleep in the car, which could happen in theory, but is hit or miss in practice.

So, whine, whine, whine... But this isn't about my personal ease and comfort, and we're supportive of caring for these kids - in all aspects. We're here to do what we gotta do.

The caseworker did offer an idea - if we can drive them to the visits on the first weekend, they can find someone for the third weekend, and we'll play it by ear for the fifth weekend. That is just fine; as I said, we have no problem getting the kids there, it's just a little daunting to be committed to doing it every other weekend.

Anyway, so there it is. We have the first of these lengthy visits this weekend, so we'd appreciate any prayers for a smooth transition during and after. Thanks, everyone!