Monday, October 29, 2007
Community Service
We hired one of our younger babysitters Saturday night to watch the boy. My daughter and I had tickets to see a show and my husband went to a friend's wedding. (I had already bought the show tickets when we got the wedding invite.) Our sitter is only 15, so she had arranged for a friend of hers to come to pick her up.
She had called my husband to ask if it was okay to let her friend wait inside until one of us got home. He said "sure". I was the first one home. There was a truck parked in the front when I arrived. Our sitter was out chatting with the occupants. She follows me in and said "We need to talk." Um...somehow coming from your 15 year old sitter, that just DOES NOT sound good. She proceeds to tell me the following story:
When her friend arrived, she brought 2 boys with her. They came inside, and when my sitter went upstairs to check on the baby, the kids said "Can we look around?" to which she replied "Yeah, sure". She got back downstairs just in time to see that they had emptied two 16 oz. soda bottles and filled them with liquor from our basement bar. When she protested, they were all like "whatever" and left her there. Hey! Thanks friends! For the screw-job AND the ride home! She was CLEARLY mortified by what had transpired, and was very upset. The truck out front was another set of friends she called to come to her rescue. I told her that I very much appreciated her honesty, and that we were not mad at her. I let her know that my husband would give her a call to get info. on the kids that had stolen from us. On second thought...go ahead and give me those names and numbers now. Let's not sleep on that. Oh, and further more, when strangers (to me) ask if they can 'look around' my house...yeah, not so much. I know you're thinking "that's what you get for getting such a young sitter", but I will say this girl is mature beyond her years in so many other ways. She's no dummy.
So long story....long, my husband got in touch with all three kid's parents. One boy beat him to the punch by calling HIM first and coming clean with the whole story. The other two parents got a news flash. My husband empathized with the parents about being a "dumb teenager" and let them know he would be expecting restitution as the victim of their children's theft. In a couple weeks when the trees are dumping more leaves, all three of our little sticky-fingered 'guests' will be spending a whole Saturday raking our rather large, tree-filled back yard. There may or may not be a field trip to the local county jail for a close-up and personal view of what lying and stealing does for you.
All of the parents were totally on board with my husband's plan. A couple of them felt it wasn't "enough". He told them that that was just how they were to repay HIM, and the parents should implement whatever additional punishments they saw fit.
The upshot? 24 ounces of cheap liquor bought me the cheapest lawn service EVER.. Anyone else NOT miss being 16?
We hired one of our younger babysitters Saturday night to watch the boy. My daughter and I had tickets to see a show and my husband went to a friend's wedding. (I had already bought the show tickets when we got the wedding invite.) Our sitter is only 15, so she had arranged for a friend of hers to come to pick her up.
She had called my husband to ask if it was okay to let her friend wait inside until one of us got home. He said "sure". I was the first one home. There was a truck parked in the front when I arrived. Our sitter was out chatting with the occupants. She follows me in and said "We need to talk." Um...somehow coming from your 15 year old sitter, that just DOES NOT sound good. She proceeds to tell me the following story:
When her friend arrived, she brought 2 boys with her. They came inside, and when my sitter went upstairs to check on the baby, the kids said "Can we look around?" to which she replied "Yeah, sure". She got back downstairs just in time to see that they had emptied two 16 oz. soda bottles and filled them with liquor from our basement bar. When she protested, they were all like "whatever" and left her there. Hey! Thanks friends! For the screw-job AND the ride home! She was CLEARLY mortified by what had transpired, and was very upset. The truck out front was another set of friends she called to come to her rescue. I told her that I very much appreciated her honesty, and that we were not mad at her. I let her know that my husband would give her a call to get info. on the kids that had stolen from us. On second thought...go ahead and give me those names and numbers now. Let's not sleep on that. Oh, and further more, when strangers (to me) ask if they can 'look around' my house...yeah, not so much. I know you're thinking "that's what you get for getting such a young sitter", but I will say this girl is mature beyond her years in so many other ways. She's no dummy.
So long story....long, my husband got in touch with all three kid's parents. One boy beat him to the punch by calling HIM first and coming clean with the whole story. The other two parents got a news flash. My husband empathized with the parents about being a "dumb teenager" and let them know he would be expecting restitution as the victim of their children's theft. In a couple weeks when the trees are dumping more leaves, all three of our little sticky-fingered 'guests' will be spending a whole Saturday raking our rather large, tree-filled back yard. There may or may not be a field trip to the local county jail for a close-up and personal view of what lying and stealing does for you.
All of the parents were totally on board with my husband's plan. A couple of them felt it wasn't "enough". He told them that that was just how they were to repay HIM, and the parents should implement whatever additional punishments they saw fit.
The upshot? 24 ounces of cheap liquor bought me the cheapest lawn service EVER.. Anyone else NOT miss being 16?
Saturday, October 13, 2007
I Wanna Be the Dragon
Soooo, we had a RECORD BREAKING meltdown this week. Terrible twos are in the hizzouse. We all went to Old Navy to grab a costume for my son. He seemed down with the concept initially, but once we were at the costume display, refused to so much as cast his gaze upon the selections. "Hey, LOOK! How about the skunk? Look at the cute monkey! Here's a cool dragon! Ohhh! The chicken is cute!" Orrrrr, we can run around the display yelling "Nooooo!". After about 7 or 8 minutes of attempted wrangling, my husband and I both said "OK! We. Are. Done." As we were walking out of the store to the car, my son started screeching "COSTUME!" at the top of his lungs. I don't know HOW many times we said "Which one do you want, dear?" only to be answered with "COSTUME!" Finally we said "screw it" and loaded him into the car. Ohhh, my. The ear piercing, snotting, kicking and shrieking that ensued. It was SO loud that I stuffed Kleenex into my ears. It kept up the entire 13 1/2 minute ride home. I now know EXACTLY how long it takes to get from my house to Old Navy. Every long, painful second. My daughter had tears in her eyes when we arrived home. Assuming she was just upset by the scene, I said that he was having a baby fit and he'd calm down soon. She said "I know, it's just that my ears hurt."
Once we got home my husband whisked him upstairs for a bit of discipline including, but not limited to, some time sitting in the corner. After several minutes I went upstairs to check in and say goodnight. He was finally calm and asked me to read him a bedtime story. After the story, I looked at his (now) sweet face and said "Dear, what do you wanna be for Halloween." He clearly and calmly informed me "I wanna be the dragon."
Soooo, we had a RECORD BREAKING meltdown this week. Terrible twos are in the hizzouse. We all went to Old Navy to grab a costume for my son. He seemed down with the concept initially, but once we were at the costume display, refused to so much as cast his gaze upon the selections. "Hey, LOOK! How about the skunk? Look at the cute monkey! Here's a cool dragon! Ohhh! The chicken is cute!" Orrrrr, we can run around the display yelling "Nooooo!". After about 7 or 8 minutes of attempted wrangling, my husband and I both said "OK! We. Are. Done." As we were walking out of the store to the car, my son started screeching "COSTUME!" at the top of his lungs. I don't know HOW many times we said "Which one do you want, dear?" only to be answered with "COSTUME!" Finally we said "screw it" and loaded him into the car. Ohhh, my. The ear piercing, snotting, kicking and shrieking that ensued. It was SO loud that I stuffed Kleenex into my ears. It kept up the entire 13 1/2 minute ride home. I now know EXACTLY how long it takes to get from my house to Old Navy. Every long, painful second. My daughter had tears in her eyes when we arrived home. Assuming she was just upset by the scene, I said that he was having a baby fit and he'd calm down soon. She said "I know, it's just that my ears hurt."
Once we got home my husband whisked him upstairs for a bit of discipline including, but not limited to, some time sitting in the corner. After several minutes I went upstairs to check in and say goodnight. He was finally calm and asked me to read him a bedtime story. After the story, I looked at his (now) sweet face and said "Dear, what do you wanna be for Halloween." He clearly and calmly informed me "I wanna be the dragon."
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Eureka! I'm back!
Sorry. I know I'm generally unreliable about posting, but it took FOREVER for Google Help to get me back into my blogger account. But, LOOK! I'm IN!
So back to business: My new yoga studio plans are coming along nicely. We bumped our opening date back to January, as we were getting dangerously close to opening around the holidays. We needed more time to collect bids from contractors to bid our build-out. Hey, did you know that many contractors are shysters? You did? Well, sometimes it takes me awhile. We should get our last 2 bids this week and be able to make a decision. Fortunately, we have the coolest landlord on the planet, so he is good with the delay. My partner and I are VERY anxious to get moving with this. We've been doing loads of grass-roots marketing and we have a large "free class" coupon promotion planned for the area's trick-or-treaters. I joined the Chamber and have plans to make nice ASAP. That is, when I can fit it in.
I have a conundrum. I am SO busy with my full time job (it takes loads of time running around collecting signatures...how professional!) that I am not sure how I am going to be able to juggle both jobs once we are open. I keep waiting for the crystal ball to show up. Y'know...the one that will tell me how long it will be until the business is profitable enough (for me, plus a partner) to be able to quit the corporate gig. My head is about to explode and we're still months away from even being open. I know it will all work out, but DAMN am I impatient! It's the cross I must bear.
The kids are great. Second grade has been...a challenge for my daughter. She can hack the work, no problem. It's the 'social' issues she is working on mastering. Namely, keeping her big yapper shut and paying attention. She has been called out by the teacher so many times for talking, I have lost count. She's been better in the last couple weeks.
And the boy. Oh...boy. Potting training is FUN! Pooping in the potty is NOT. Again...a work in progress. He is also the most strong willed child EVER. My daughter was a challenge, but when you throw the "boy" aspect into it, damn.
So that's it for now. My posts will be more exciting once our awesome project is physically under way. Til then!
Sorry. I know I'm generally unreliable about posting, but it took FOREVER for Google Help to get me back into my blogger account. But, LOOK! I'm IN!
So back to business: My new yoga studio plans are coming along nicely. We bumped our opening date back to January, as we were getting dangerously close to opening around the holidays. We needed more time to collect bids from contractors to bid our build-out. Hey, did you know that many contractors are shysters? You did? Well, sometimes it takes me awhile. We should get our last 2 bids this week and be able to make a decision. Fortunately, we have the coolest landlord on the planet, so he is good with the delay. My partner and I are VERY anxious to get moving with this. We've been doing loads of grass-roots marketing and we have a large "free class" coupon promotion planned for the area's trick-or-treaters. I joined the Chamber and have plans to make nice ASAP. That is, when I can fit it in.
I have a conundrum. I am SO busy with my full time job (it takes loads of time running around collecting signatures...how professional!) that I am not sure how I am going to be able to juggle both jobs once we are open. I keep waiting for the crystal ball to show up. Y'know...the one that will tell me how long it will be until the business is profitable enough (for me, plus a partner) to be able to quit the corporate gig. My head is about to explode and we're still months away from even being open. I know it will all work out, but DAMN am I impatient! It's the cross I must bear.
The kids are great. Second grade has been...a challenge for my daughter. She can hack the work, no problem. It's the 'social' issues she is working on mastering. Namely, keeping her big yapper shut and paying attention. She has been called out by the teacher so many times for talking, I have lost count. She's been better in the last couple weeks.
And the boy. Oh...boy. Potting training is FUN! Pooping in the potty is NOT. Again...a work in progress. He is also the most strong willed child EVER. My daughter was a challenge, but when you throw the "boy" aspect into it, damn.
So that's it for now. My posts will be more exciting once our awesome project is physically under way. Til then!
