September 16, 2006

• Helpful Neighbors

  I'm glad the neighbors are concerned.  Really.  I'm planning to show my gratitude by playing loud celebratory music at 2 am.  Yes, that means that I will have to be up at 2, but really, for such helpful people I'm willing to go to some effort to demonstrate my appreciation. 

  Can you tell I'm a LITTLE bit cranky?

  I came home yesterday to two agitated kids.  It seems that about 5:00 a policeman came to our door to check and see if my kids felt okay with being alone.  Some neighbor, desiring to be helpful (and I believe that like I believe that herpes is a good thing) called the police and reported me for leaving a "barely six year old" at home alone every afternoon.  So if my neighbor is reading this, allow me to correct your impressions of a couple of things. 

  • First of all, sending the police to my house without ever having spoken to me about your concerns isn't just rude, it's aggressively bad mannered. 
  • Next on the list, having the police show up could have been traumatic if we were talking about any kid other than Tucker.  He was just disappointed that the policeman didn't appear to have "handcuffs on his butt, like all REAL policemen are supposed to have." 
  • Thirdly, if you'd asked me, even as an aside in a friendly conversation, you could have known that Tucker isn't 6.  He's almost 10.  Yes, you could have saved yourself from looking like a total ass. 
  • Fourthly, if you had checked with the department of Social Services, or even looked it up on the internet, you could have known that in Colorado there is no arbitrary age at which it is either okay or not okay for a child to be a "latchkey" kid.  The standard here is the comfort of the child, does he know what to do, can he reach Mom in case of an emergency, does he know how to call 911, is there food in the house ...

  Because when the policeman came by, he found two well-behaved and obviously comfortable kids in their home doing laundry.  When I called to speak with the dispatcher, she read me the report. 

  "At ..... I found two males, one 9.5 and the other 12 years in age.  The boys were confident answering questions regarding their safety and demonstrated ability to call for help if needed.  There is no reason to further investigate this home.  Either child is competent to be alone for a couple of hours in the afternoon and together they are doing the laundry.  This officer did not ask to enter the premises or investigate the kitchen because it was obvious that they are in a comfortable, safe place and are well-fed."

  It's the well-fed part that makes me really smile.   

  I got paid yesterday for a job I did over the summer.  It started as something that should have been a quick and easy slam dunk to help a friend, and it turned into a nightmare for us both before it was over, but it's over.  And at the end of the day I made certain that my friend got exactly the service and help that was needed.  I feel good about my performance, but I learned that I will NEVER work with a certain company again. 

  SO - last night I took the boys shopping.  We deposited more than half my check in savings, wrote a check to pay a bill for which the creditor has been more than patient in waiting, and then we shopped.  The kids each got new jeans.  (Which reminds me that I need to do some hemming on Tucker's ...) 

  Michael also wanted new music.  He called my attention to the fact that he's outgrown much of the "kid" music he has been listening to.  He wanted songs by All American Rejects, Nickelback, and Rascal Flatts.  Okay, we can do that.  Tucker was more interested in a certain Pokemon game for his Game Boy Advanced system.  Okay, okay, I can do that too.  And then we went to Chili's for dinner!  It was extravagance upon extravagance.  This morning I'm wishing that I'd spent a little less, but I got nine pairs of jeans, two cd's and a video game plus dinner for about $200.  

  I'm on my way out this morning to buy a bookshelf.  I have arranged and rearranged and stacked and sorted and there is no way I can get these other two boxes of books on the shelf space I have available as is.  I've lived with stacks of boxes in the corner for two years, I'm done with that.   

  I'm considering leaving the kids alone here, just to thumb my nose at the nieghbor, but I need them to help me carry the box, so I guess I'll have to forgo that opportunity.  But come 2 am, I'm thinking it might be a good time to test out Michael's stereo and the new music to see if it improves my mood the way I think it might. 

  PS - I'll be hitting up the post office as I'm heading out, I have my fingers crossed that the books are here.  I'll let you know when I get them in the mail.

  

  PS. I'm not as cranky as I sound, not now that I've got it all off my chest. 

  • 1:08 pm
  • 13 Comments