Ramblings...

I've been dealing with WIC off and on for 15 years now, whether it's me being pregnant or my kids being under age 5. Jax is the last one. He had WIC in SC with special provisions because of his mild allergies. Since being in TN, his WIC for over 6 months has been normal because his allergies have disappeared. Since he's been on WIC, we've gone to the same store and gotten the same items. The only variations have been cereal and juice.

This past Monday, I went to the same store and grabbed the same items as usual. The Cheerioes wouldn't ring up so the new cashier was told to override it. The cheese wouldn't ring up so they brought me different cheese. When I argued over it (because I have always gotten individually wrapped slice...which IS allowed on our WIC) they brought me another kind. After being there for 20 minutes, I said whatever and went home. When I got home I noticed the cheese I was told to get was imitation cheese. That is NOT allowed on WIC. I knew the food list had changed as of October 1st, so I went online and printed out the new list. Imitation cheese was still NOT allowed. Ok aside from them making me take imitation cheese, they did NOT check my signature on the voucher against my signature on the ID card. And when I brought up the whole imitation cheese thing they got an attitude with me. For once, I held my tongue. After all, had I shown my ass, they could have reported me and gotten Jackson's WIC revoked.

Instead, Tuesday, I called the regional director's office and filed a complaint. She agreed that if a store was able to file a complaint against me, I had the same right. She had me take pics of receipt with imitation cheese package on my digicam and email them to her. (I'd already taken pics on my phone to show WIC office at Jackson's appt on the 19th.) She immediately faxed the pics I sent to the store owner. He wanted me to bring in the imitation cheese and exchange it whether they were opened or not. She told me the regional office was going to send someone to the store to properly train them on how to do WIC items.

Having been using WIC for about 15 years, it shouldn't be MY job to tell these people how to do their job. But I'm happy with the outcome. I didn't want anyone to lose their job. I just wanted them to do their job with WIC the right way.

On another note, Jax had an appt this morning with the plastic surgeon. (We saw the neuro-surgeon in July and he wants Jax to have surgery to close the gaps in his skull before he starts school next year.) So we left the house about 8:30am...had to stop for gas and then a potty break for Jax. We were 25 minutes late...hospital is an hour and 30 minutes away. By the time we saw the dr and got home, it was 2:35pm! But the dr was very nice and apologetic cause he had been running later than we had. Because Jackson's last CT scan was over a year ago, he scheduled a new one. DH told me I'd have to start driving myself to Nashville for these appointments, cause it costs him money to take a day off. I was willing to try until I got the call back saying Jackson's CT scan was scheduled for 3pm...meaning I'd have to drive home during rush hour traffic! Yeah sorry, that's not gonna happen! I'm willing to try for his follow up visit with the plastic surgeon on 12/9, cause his appt is at 9:55....and I'll be home before traffic hits. I'm hoping I don't get lost and have a panic attack. LOL

So...the day of his CT scan, I'll ride in to work with DH, Jax and I will stroll around the mall until it's time to head to the hospital. I already asked if he'll have to wear a helmet again, but the dr said he won't have any specific answers for me until he gets the results from the CT scan. His surgery isn't even scheduled yet and I'm already stressing about it!