2025.10.23

Earlier this week, during one of our visits, Bennett curled up beside me on the floor and started scrolling through Amazon on my phone. He added a handful of Paw Patrol things to the cart — a small ritual that’s become our way of dreaming together. We laughed, we cuddled, we built a tiny list of joy in a world that keeps taking from him.

One of the items — a Marshall watch — arrived yesterday. When I told him, his eyes lit up through the screen. He was so proud that he’d picked it himself, and was so excited to see it.

But before I can bring Bennett anything, I have to ask permission. Every single time. I sent a message asking if I could bring the watch. No answer came.

Today, when I saw him, I had to tell him I “forgot it.” That was the only way to soften the truth — that the Ministry didn’t approve a six-year-old’s gift from his mom. The look on his face will stay with me. The confusion. The quiet hurt. The sadness in his eyes.

This isn’t just about a watch. My son has already lost his home, his familiar faces, his daily routines, his safety net — all replaced by rotating staff in a house full of strangers, and now a public school that overwhelms him. I respected his limits. I listened when he said, “Too many people.” I built his world around what made him feel safe.

And then, overnight, the system that was supposed to protect him stripped that world away.

Now they tell me I can’t even bring him a small reminder of comfort — a watch he picked, a symbol of connection, a tiny piece of joy.

This is how government systems break children — not just through violence or neglect, but through quiet, bureaucratic cruelty. By cutting off love one approval form at a time.

Taking away a child’s mom.

Taking away a child’s supports.

Taking away a child’s joy.

And calling it protection.

#ChildWelfareCrisis

#FamilySeparation

#MCFDAccountability

#BringBennettHome

#JusticeForBennett

#ChildRights

#ParentAdvocacy

#SystemicFailure

#WrongfulApprehension

#TraumaInCare

#BcPoli

#BcPolitics