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FGC through the eyes of a coordinator or what FGC gave and took away from me

It took me a few hours of peace because I didn’t know until the last minute before it started if FGC would be cancelled. And also because the tension and mood between the two main participants, the parents, was more than explosive. This is evidenced by one of them asking, among other things, “What if we fight?”

Two months of preparation. Two months of tension, tactics, consultations, calming down and, last but not least, the belief that it would turn out well. Throughout the preparation, tactics were interwoven, and that was calm and detachment. “Let’s go over this in our heads now and we’ll call you in two days, what do you say?” I then suggested several times to several members. Strangely enough, it worked. Hot heads cool with the cold water of time. And also respect everyone and everything.

The interesting point was that the shaking and tension was not only between the members themselves, but also between the mother and the social worker of a social and legal protection authority of children. The FGC administrator assessed that it would be useful to visit the social worker in person before FGC and explain again and patiently her role and the principles of FGC. FGC was calm and constructive. Thanks in large part to the child-centered approach of the grandparents. Bravo to them! That’s why they’re here, right? To support the kids at the right time. The mother went through a lot of emotions in those few hours. But the important thing was that she understood that no one was judging her. 

Conclusion? The social worker was pleasantly surprised, “I didn’t expect it to go like this.” The family walks away with a concrete plan, no one is rattled, they now feel they can do it. What happens next we don’t know and it’s not really any of our business, but this meeting was worth a damn! It’s a team effort, with everyone doing a piece to contribute to the process.

This conference has given me many things, especially the realization of how crucial it is to ask for help at the right time, the realization of how great leadership I have, the realization of how important self-care is during or after, the realization of how fragile we are as human beings despite how we affect those around us.
And most of all, a little more faith in the captivating power of family again! 

a story from the Czech Republic