i love my job! **warning**this post may be a bit difficult if you're looking for something super-cheerful! i just got off of the phone with a woman whose 17 year old daughter has been AWOL since last friday, after she beat up her 15 year old sister and left the house with two boys in a stolen car. this is the same girl who is always sweet and polite and really likeable, even when i walked in on her trying to get rid of the marijuana smell in the house before her mother got home from work a couple of months ago when i made a surprise visit to her after school. i actually do like her, even when i'm having a discussion with her about why she keeps getting STDs. last week i had a treatment team meeting with a 15 year old girl who is in residential treatment. she keeps cutting herself, runs away almost weekly, refuses to go to school and take her medication. oh, yes, she's also decided that she is a vampire. (seriously) today i met with a 14 year old girl who is furious because the magistrate has ordered her to have no contact with a particular 20 year old boy who she insists is her best friend. we suspect she is a bit more "involved" with him, and the magistrate informed her that "a 20 year old has no business being friends with you." i met with her after a court hearing with a father who allegedly raped his 12 year old daughter after giving her sleeping pills. thank goodness the same magistrate once again ordered absolutely no contact between father and daughter, unless a therapist is present. this afternoon, i talked to a mother who was literally days away from having her four children returned to her when her own mother kicked her out of the house and now she's homeless. aargh. sometimes i forget that my perception of what is normal and part of a day's work really isn't... but i really do love my job! go figure.