Ummm....

Did you ever have a time when you just didn't know quite what to say? I've had a couple today.

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Joe brought a note home from kindergarten, pinned to his shirt so I wouldn't miss it. The note read:

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"Dear Parents: This Friday is 'Crazy Hair' day. If your child wants to have crazy hair, please send in $.50 for a donation to the student council. Feel free to style and have fun. Thank you, Mrs. D."

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That's right. If my child wants to participate he has to pay to do so. And the cost is two whole quarters! That's a lot of money! Since when do you have to pay for Crazy Hair day? And what about Rose? My nine-year old? The one who has refused to wash her hair for a week and has a huge rat's nest in the back that I'm just too tired to fight about some mornings? Will she be charged for her crazy hair? On second thought, that might actually be a good thing for Rose... I'll have to think about that.

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Earlier this evening, I was talking to my foster daughter, Miss Q, about her monthly allowance (provided by the state that I'm required to give per some rule or another). There are some activities coming up that she'd like to attend and some things she'd like to buy. Hubby and I had talked to her about money, budgeting, saving, etc., last month when we gave her the allowance. Apparently, nothing we talked about sunk in.

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Discussing the cost of things she wants to do, I told her that she would have to pay for some things. I then asked how much of her money she had in savings from last month. "None" was the response. I was shocked! She has not brought anything into the home purchase wise. Her meals at school are paid for as are all her expenses living with me. I asked what happened to her money. I got one of those mumbled "idontknow" shrugs. After twenty minutes of dragging her feet I finally had an explanation of sorts.

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She had borrowed a CD from the library a couple months ago, failed to return it, and owed fines. She gave the CD and $15 to some kid who she had never met before and whose name she did not know to return the CD for her and pay the fine. Can you see the points in this story where this Mom's jaw dropped? If not, no worries. I will gladly list them for you:

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1) I ask this kid every week if she has anything that needs to be returned to the library and her answer every week is "no". When I pointed this out, her reply was that she had borrowed it from the downtown and didn't know if it could be returned to the main branch. Excuse me??? Why didn't you tell me? To that question I got another mumbled "idontknow" shrug.

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2) She gave a stranger, a stranger!, an item that did not belong to her and her money! When she shared that bit of info, I had to stop and take a few deep breaths before proceeding. At which point I asked her to think, really think, about what she just said and whether or not she thought that was a "good idea". Dear Heavenly Father, please grant me patience with this girl!!!

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3) Fifteen dollars for a fine. Seriously?? What was she thinking? That amount would be high as a replacement fee, let alone a late fine. And again, she gave her money to a stranger. A Stranger!!!

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I called Bull on her a couple times during her story. But she insists that this is what really happened. I just can't decide if she's lying or if she's really that dumb. Hubby thinks she's lying.

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The last episode occurred about fifteen minutes ago. My kids participated in their school's PTA fundraiser sale. The stuff that they sold came in today, so I have spent the afternoon and evening calling our neighbors who purchased items to make sure they're home, then taking the items to the neighbors. One man's phone number wasn't working. An automated message told me that it had either been "changed, disconnected, or is no longer in service." Huh? The guy just ordered stuff in September.

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I got online to see if an updated number was listed there. I found one and called it. A woman answered the phone and when I asked for the guy she evasively said, "He's not around anymore." Huh? In that brief second I figured that he wasn't home and she didn't recognize my number and so didn't want to give out too much info. So I explained that I was calling because my child had gone door to door in the neighborhood and had sold the guy some cookie dough. I asked if she had an idea where he was so we could deliver it to him. Her reply: "He's deceased. He died in September."

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My compassionate response: "Ummm.....Wow. I'm sorry for your loss. So, umm...do you want the cookie dough? 'Cause I can bring it over, if your home..."

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