Her morning routine doesn’t resemble any mother routines, I know, including my own. There is no leisurely time-consuming bath, only 1 minute showers if you are lucky. No sitting alone eating, you typically eat baby’s leftovers or something quick. Unless you made coffee the night before, forget it. (Ubereats was not in my budget.) She didn’t mention getting up 3 hours before you want to, changing, feeding, bathing, walking, changing again, tummy time, swings for five minutes, crying, putting pacifiers in, and then trying to shower, eat, do hair, laundry and clean while the baby naps for 30 minutes. It’s insane how much time a baby takes up. She’s barely involved. Because she can’t be.
Florida is one of those states where grandparents have no rights.
A law has been put into place because of a murder by a custodial mother who hired a hitman to
kill her husband, but it’s still tough. A parent has to be neglectful and abusive, not just incompetent:
“Florida Statute 751.05 describes a parent as unfit if they have “abused, abandoned, or neglected the child.” Parents that are deemed unfit by Florida courts can lose child custody for not only failing to meet the
child’s best interest but also endangering the child.”
If the grandparents do get custody, it’s still considered temporary. Of course, Alex is a unique case-it’d be tough for government to declare a disabled woman with a (seemingly) healthy partner and a caregiver is neglecting and abusing the child by formal standards. So these grandparents are kind of in the same situation as the parents who had their son murdered. They just have to kiss ass and make Alex feel welcome and hope Noah and she sign custody over. It’s possible the CPS situation scared her enough so she did, but it’s not even permanent if she finds a way of caring for Ari, no matter how unconventional.
You’d like to think the Government would know the grandparents are best but how often do they turn clearly abused kids over to their abusers? A lot.
It’s sad, but the best thing is the grandparents doing everything and letting Alex live a luxe life with little plants and food delivery that she doesn’t want to give up while pretending she’s Ari’s mom.
Disclaimer: IANAL, I just read a few articles on grandparent custody and visitation. I’d heard about the murder case so it had stuck in my mind. I hope a professional can prove me wrong.