Merry Chrismakah

I was half Jewish for about 2 yrs. REALLY. Mom was married to my stepfather, Lester, who was Jewish. We lived in Worcester (Wouster) Massachusetts and I was in 5th grade. Lester and I DID NOT get along, to put it mildly. He was a complete selfish jackass. He was just how you would picture a "Lester." Black curly chin length hair, glasses, hairy, and a big round belly that looked like he was 9 months pregnant. He used to eat chips in a bowl with tons of extra salt on them and watch TV, he'd lay the bowl on his gross protruding stomach. BLECHHH He was totally into rock and roll, and at the time I was into New Edition, so I thought his music was just loud noise that he would crank up on the stereo all the time. His parents lived in Cranston, Rhode Island, again completely stereo-typical! His mom wore all kinds of big gawdy costume jewelry and had slip covers all over the house. His dad was bald and wore glasses, he was a little man that always said, "HUH? What did you say?" They had another son and he and his wife lived in Salem Massachusetts-yes home of the witches.
I went and stayed with them for 4th of July weekend once with their adopted daughter, Soonyi, she was Korean(yes like Woody Allen's daughter/wife). The whole family just went overboard with inflating this girl's ego, and I felt completely inadequate the whole time I was there. "Soonyi has straight A's, Soonyi is in softball, Soonyi is so good at her clarinet, look at how well Soonyi braided HER VERY OWN HAIR, wow Soonyi is so smart," blah blah blah! By the time my mom came for the cookout on the last day I had pretty much had it with Soonyi. Plus she was so conceited, she criticisms the way I dressed, did my hair, and tried to correct the way I threw a frisbee! On a good note I did get to see the house of the seven gables, and Salem is totally gorgeous!
Hanukkah/Christmas time was different. We did get 7 days of gifts for Hanukkah, as well as our Christmas presents-but the Hanukkah gifts really sucked! They were dreidels or books about Hanukkah, I can't remember what else but it sucked. We had to light the menorah every night and read a passage from the book, which was ok. The food was the worst! It TOTALLY SUCKED!! Matzoh balls, ewww. Potato pancakes, eww. We always knew we would get chocolate money though, that was good.
They wanted me to go to Hebrew school, and I think my mom was ready to let me go. WHAT?? Is that crazy or what? I think his parents were going to pay for it so my mom was going to agree, thinking I would get a better education.
Funny how things work out!!
My mom and Lester had problems, he was a cokehead and he stole our money. He would babysit my brother and I and take us to see the Boston Redsocks at Fenway park (which was cool) at least twice a month, and he would take our money from our piggybanks to pay for tickets and food for all of us. I'm sure they had other problems, but I was just a kid so I didn't really know much. The day he left it was very dramatic and really not a good situation. I guess my mom kicked him out because we continued to live there after he left. The funniest thing, and to this day my brother and I still laugh about this, was when Lester was leaving he took my brother in the hall and said "I'm gonna miss you the most, Jimmy!" and gave him a huge hug.(perv) A few months after that he sent Jimmy a postcard.
That was the last Chrismakah we ever had!

"Christmas time's a comin', Christmas time's a comin', Christmas time's a comin', and I know I'm goin home"

OK If you know that song you are the winner. Growing up we had some funny traditions. One was at Christmas time we would decorate the tree and listen to Nat King Cole and a Johnny Cash Christmas. NO-we were not country music fans! But that was our tradition. I want to see Walk the Line for that reason.(well one) This time of year I miss my mom and brothers terribly. It really sucks because Ohio is my home, but so is Florida. I am SUPER close with my mom. I can tell her just about anything. She supports me in every way, and even when she doesn't approve, she never lets me know and is there for me to make my own mistakes. She is totally my inspiration and my role model. She is not perfect, but she has had a lot of hardships that she has overcome, and she is the ultimate strong, independent woman. She continues to struggle with problems, a son that is facing jail time, 2 other sons that are extremely selfish and naive, a daughter that needs to get on her feet again and CONSTANTLY vents to her, all 4 grandchildren live several states away from her, a husband that treats her like a slave-she waits on him hand and foot-he would never think to do the same, a sister that has constant marriage troubles and who is facing her own jackass of a husband, a brother that has hep b-has had a heart attack-has a son w/down's syndrome and has constant money problems, a father who is legally blind and is handicapped-his new wife has the beginning of alzheimer's and they rely on my mom for everything, a mother who died of lung cancer 3/9/94, a job that is WAY too demanding of her and bosses that treat her like crap, and her own recurring health issues and scares. Yet through it all, my mother is the most positive, upbeat person I have ever met. She rarely complains, she is always smiling, and she appreciates life. She recently found god, which is strange because at times it seems over the top, but it has helped make her a stronger person and helped her battle HER own demons from the past. A drug problem, a drinking problem, a string of failed relationships and 3 divorces. My mom works hard, and has always worked hard for everything she ever got. She made mistakes raising us, but what parent doesn't. She gave me a lot of great memories, and every year I look for that cd or tape of a Johnny Cash Christmas,and every year I turn up short. We had it on a record, which I know she doesn't have anymore. It's sad because my brothers now don't help her decorate or anything, they have no traditions like my other brother had when we were growing up. My mom just decorates by herself. This year I had planned on going to Florida for Christmas. My mom has made a lot of sacrifices for us over the years, and I love her very much. Now that I'm not working retail, I can actually have time off for Christmas. By the time I knew for sure my time off was approved, all flights were pretty much booked unless I wanted to pay like $500/ticket. $1500? No thanks. Driving? Even worse. So, at least I have the time off, but next year I am definitely planning way, way, WAY ahead to make sure I can go home for Christmas.

The top 10 things I learned from working at (a well-known health and beauty retailer)...

10.Everyone is replaceable!
9.Dm visit predetermined adgenda, hmm what today?I know , focus ONLY on the condition of the hardwood floors!Do NOT see anything but the floors!If business is good, turn it around that it would be BETTER if only the floors were CLEAN!
8.It is easy to manipulate the customer into buying what they want and then adding whatever you want them to buy.Plus that's your job.
7.The more you advance in the company, the more things are all your fault when things go wrong.
6.Our lotions, shower gels, bubble baths etc only cost nine cents to make, and we charge $9.00 for them!SUCKERS
5.When a customer says they are, "just looking" you need to force them to take your help.Hey- they could be a mystery shopper!
4."Part-Time" means 4 hrs a week maybe, "Salaried" means you can expect to work 45-50 hrs, on days off, and field constant phone calls at home from the store/ Business needs come first, your family comes second
3.There is no "break" after season! After that there is sale, inventories, visits, cleaning schedules, meetings, easter push, mother's day push, summer, hey, wow- you're back at season.
2.Everyone is either A.Criticizing you about your job, B.Trying to steal your job, or C.Threatened by you because they think you are out to get their job.
1.TWO WORDS: BACK-STABBING! (Thank you Karen K., Cathy, Wendy, Betsey, Lynda, and OF COURSE-Courtney!)
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An Age Old Debate

I recently read a post on another blog about sex before marriage. The author says he thinks that some things need to be kept out of a relationship until marriage. It appears that he feels that break-ups are hard enough without throwing sex into the mix, and there needs to be a wave of enlightenment to society to change the mindset that sex outside of marriage is ok.

I feel that sex isn't something that can be judged or easily put into a package- 1.It's bad before marriage or 2.It's ok before marriage

It really isn't that cut and dry. Sex is extremely powerful;it can be POSITIVE powerful, or NEGATIVE powerful. There truly is a grey area when it comes to sex, and I don't feel it is right to simply make a statement, "It's not ok to have sex before marriage!" For an inexperienced teenage couple that have been together for a short time, yeah maybe it's not a good idea. For a mature couple that have had a long term commitment or are seriously considering more, I say yes. But who am I to say what these people can do? I am not their conscience, I am not their ruler. Things happen for a reason. I feel sex is something you learn from and adapt to and grow from. I don't just mean the physicality of it either, I mean the emotion of it all-the power it gives, or can take away. When a man and a woman give themselves to each other in the bond of marriage it should be because they have an ultimate connection, a complete cohesion, MIND/BODY/SOUL. I feel it is important for a couple to have sex before they make their final commitment of marriage to ensure they still have that same compatibility in their sex life. Sure, sometimes couples help each other "progress" in that area, but sometimes it drives two people away faster than any argument about finances or leaving the cap off the toothpaste ever could.
I know this is a bizarre example, but just look at Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey. (If you don't know who they are you need to pick up a magazine lately, ANY one will do-even the newspaper) She saved herself for marriage, he didn't. He experienced life and it got him to a place where he decided he was ready to make that ultimate commitment. She didn't, but decided that she was ready to "settle down" without experiencing life and without evolving herself from those experiences. Sex changes people. It can be good or bad, it can be with every new partner or even just your first time. She never changed, never evolved, and I feel she was curious. What else is out there? What did I miss? Am I REALLY this person that settled down? Did I begin a new chapter in my life before I ever even started writing the first chapter? She started going out A LOT without him. She started not wearing her wedding ring. She was linked to several men and had rumors about her cheating ways. He was reported at home, with their dog, and with his family. So she filed for divorce, and he didn't. As I said, weird off-the-wall testimony, but don't you agree the point is truly there? I have had relationships, not even marriage, that ended for that same reason. What if those were marriages? I could be a multi-time divorcee right now.
The author of that blog also points out that the giving of your emotional and spiritual self should not be given so freely. This I am in COMPLETE agreement with. There we go-the grey area. How do you know when you should/could give it away so to speak? When is it the "right time?" I don't feel that anyone can make that decision for anyone but themselves. If you are ready, you'll know. If you're not and still make that decision to have sex, well that will definitely be a learning experience. People can learn from studying, reading, taking tests, listening to lectures, but I don't feel you can TRULY learn until you experience things first hand. Did you ever get a new electronic device, a DVD player, a computer, a gaming system, a TIVO? Did you read the instruction manual? When you were done did you know what to do? Or, perhaps, did you need to try it a few times, work with it, excel through trial and error vs. reading the manual? And only then-did you truly understand it? RIGHT. I wish that half of the efforts for celibacy or no sex before marriage groups would be directed toward education to protect yourself during sex, std's, aids, and pregnancy. Kids and people in general will make their own decisions, but wouldn't it be nice that it is an educated one? That type of education isn't PROMOTING sex, but letting people know if that is what they choose to do, they need to do it safely. It's opening the lines of communication and preventing a lot of the trauma we fear that comes from premarital sex. It's promoting health. Please don't ignore, educate.

And you thought no one was reading your blog!

X-rays, SICK DAY, and quality time

I am a planner, and it never ceases to amaze me that no matter how much you plan something out, it can still turn out completely different than you imagined! Even though I called after naptime to check on Gabriella and she was ok, she still did not make it for the entire day. The day care called me 1/2 hr after I talked to them, I was in meetings all day. They got in an emergency call to my boss who pulled me out of my meeting and sent me home! My poor baby! When I picked her up she was as pale as a ghost, 103 temp, eyes sunken in, diarrhea, cough, and pulling at both ears! I called her dr who was off for the day, and said I needed to get in and see A dr, I was told they were all booked. YEAH-that didn't go over so well with me! I basically told them I was on my way and they were able to then "squeeze me in" for a later time. The dr I got was a new partner and she's probably the same age as me. My children's dr is in her mid 60's and we have been going to her for 8 years. I am used to her but I like to see a different younger dr every once in a while. Where my dr is stuck on "use the vaporizer, blah, blah blah" and oldschool methods, I feel like the younger ones have their finger on the pulse of more cutting edge practices. This dr was great, she was very sincere and explained everything to me. Gabriella had a chest x-ray and has a slight case of pneumonia, but a severe ear infection. She had 2 antibiotic shots and oral antibiotics for 9 days, that she hates. It took a few days, but most of the symptoms are gone now and she is able to go back to see her friends at school tomorrow, which she will be happy about. Every time I would get her dressed the last 4 days she'd say, "Amy?" That's her teacher's name! When I take her to her day care I always tell her she's going to see Miss Amy.
THE PLAY- Well obviously we didn't make it. But everything really did work out for the best. Caitlyn was going to a dance at school before the play, it ended at 6:00 and I was supposed to pick her up at her friend's house after that. It turned out that the dance STARTED at 6:00! She knew how much the play meant to me and even though she really wanted to go to the dance she wouldn't have told me. She was relieved to find out she could go after all!
Since we were not able to go to the play and I have been devoting all, I mean ALL of my attention to Gabriella, it has been tough for Caitlyn. She is old enough to stay by herself sometimes, where I NEVER have a babysitter for Gabriella. SO, I always seem to have alone time with Gabriella and none for Caitlyn. Since Gabriella was so much better, today my grandma watched her. Caitlyn and I went out to lunch, went to the mall, went Christmas shopping at Target, etc and just had a great time. We got home and wrapped presents together. I am very thankful that we could do that. Sometimes she needs me more than the baby! It was nice to just spend the day with her and talk and do things she likes to do.
Why doesn't Len, Gabriella's father ever watch her so I can have time with Caitlyn? HMMM- good question! I called him on Wed and told him we weren't going to the play and that I was taking the baby to the dr. He said he'd come over on Thurs all day to see her and I could go to work on Fri and he would keep her. Well, after being in the dr's office and hospital for 3 hrs, I tried to call him to let him know what was going on with his daughter-no answer so I left a voicemail telling him we were home and to call me so I could let him know what happened. This was at 8:30 Wed night. I finally heard back from him at 2:00 on Thurs! The reason he called was to tell me that he couldn't keep her Fri he was "moving some stuff for his uncle." I told him he needed to figure out what his priorities were and we started to argue. He said he was going to take a shower and call me back later. When he called me back he asked me if I had any gas money he could borrow because he didn't have any. I told him no and he said then he couldn't come over Thurs either. I, AT THAT POINT asked him if he wanted to even know what happened at the dr's. I told him and that still didn't change anything. I have not heard from him since, he has not even called to see how she was doing. This is the person that would threaten me on a daily basis that he would take her from me. He would tell me that he would make up lies about me to get custody of her! But he doesn't even call to see how she is? This isn't the first time either! He and his whole family are the most self centered people I have ever met. It hurts me, but then again it reassures my decision to dump him and "break up our family" as he often put it. I just hope when Gabriella is older and is able to catch on to his ways that by then he will have matured and will not hurt her. In the mean time and forever, I will continue to give my children as much love and affection of two parents, and then some!

Fever!, Straight Teeth, and Ebenezer Scrooge

It's very hard to believe that now that my computer is finally fixed, I still cannot manage to post every day! I really DON"T have much of a life, but I always seem to be very busy anyhow! Here are some things that have happened on the past few days!...
Gabriella has been ill! She has been fighting earaches for the past few months. She will have it in one ear, it will go to the other, etc etc. She was great this weekend, she and I went shopping at the mall and she got her Christmas pictures taken. On Sunday I shampooed the carpets, rearranged all the furniture in the living room, and put up our tree! She played with sissy all day and was fine. Of course Sunday night she woke up with a high fever and pulling at both ears! She stayed home Monday, Tuesday she was better and I took her to school. Her fever came back after nap. Last night she was up off and on all night and stayed up from 3am-6am SINGING! She is so funny! I just held her, we ate popsicles, and sang until she was tired out again! What a sweetie! Today her fever went away and she acted better. I did drop her off at school and left Tylenol with them if they need it. Wish us luck that she will be able to stay at school all day!

Tuesday was a HUGE day in Caitlyn's life. She got part of her braces put on. Words cannot convey the joy and fulfillment I have from being able to do that for her! Yesterday she smiled and laughed more than I've seen her do since she was a little girl. She was SO outgoing and talkative! It was just a wonderful day for her! It was extra important to me to be able to get braces for her because of my own insecurities. My entire life I have felt insecurity and embarrassment over my own teeth. I know that at times it has held me back in my life and made me more reserved to speak or even laugh. I have been accused many times in my life of being too serious or "looking like a bitch," and I blame it solely on my fright of people seeing my teeth. I am very happy that I am able to prevent that from happening to my daughter.

I had planned for the past month to take Caitlyn to see "A Christmas Carol" tonight. I have very fond memories growing up of my mother taking my brother and I to plays. I was even in a production of A Christmas Carol in highschool! Growing up we saw Annie, the Sound of Music, Guys and Dolls, A Christmas Carol, etc etc etc. I always felt very cultured and refined when we went to the playhouses. We didn't have a lot of money growing up and I'm not sure how my mom could afford to do that all the time, but I'm glad she did. I can't wait to share the experience with my daughter tonight. The plan is/was for Len to pick up Gabriella from school and watch her until we got home. He would feed her, bathe her, put her in bed, etc. I called him yesterday to confirm and he said he'd meet us at the house. I am pretty nervous about Gabriella's health first and foremost, so I guess that is the deciding factor on whether we go. However, I should think of it as the play starts at 7:30 and she goes to bed at 8:00, and also HE NEEDS to do stuff like this every once in a while. He needs to be there for her when she's sick too! I really believe it will all work out, we'll see. I'll give you and update!

Greetings & Salutations! (I can't say that without thinking of Christian Slater-where'd he go anyhow?)

I am not a patient person. I don't like to wait for things, I don't like to repeat myself, I can't understand why someone would drive 45 miles in a 50mph zone! I can't tolerate it when I am ignored, or when someone doesn't catch on to something as quickly as I do. I strive to be an overachiever-whether I succeed or not, I put 110% of myself in my work, my relationships, my kids.
Today I saw this quote. It said;

"Things happen best for people who make the best out of how things happen."

WOW RIGHT? I was on my way to a meeting and just glanced at it, but it is something I've been thinking about all day. I thought about my life and how it really seems like A LOT OF THINGS DON'T WORK OUT FOR ME. Sometimes I wallow in my own misery and just think, "Poor ME." How egotistical! At first I thought, I DO try to be upbeat and see things in a positive light! I DO know there are A LOT of people that have things worse off then me. I truly feel that everything happens for a reason. Whole-heartedly. Maybe I am stuck in traffic because if I wasn't maybe I would've been in a tragic accident. Maybe my relationships failed to enable me to have a happier life. Maybe I am "stuck" living here because someone needs me, and without me here they would have no alternative but to go to a nursing home. I know it's not even Christmas yet, but I want this to be my New Year's Resolution: make the most/best out of everyday and try to remember the positivity in everything. Everything happens for a reason! I need all of your help to remind me to keep my resolution!


P.S. Yes my computer is fixed!!!!!!!!! It only cost me $30, yes it is now as slow as a snail, but it's better than NOT having it! (Doing good so far...)

Cell phone update!

Ok so, last we left it, I was to call the grandpa the next day regarding what he was going to do about the issue! WELL-the next day my daughter came home and told me that Amanda had told her in school that her grandpa said if I called him one more time that he would change their number. Anyone that knows me surely knows that my first instinct was to drive over there. I didn't, I tried to call later-someone answered but said nothing, as I spoke they hung up. I tried it again thinking that their phone was broken, same thing. Later on I tried it but blocked the call, same thing. I think I gave it one final try before I decided that I would call over the weekend, early when I was sure Amanda would still be sleeping. The next day (Fri) Caitlyn came home and said that Amanda told her that their caller id said I called 8 times (not true) and her grandpa said that if I called one more time he would press charges on me. So I decided I would still give the grandpa one more chance and still call him over the weekend, if there were problems then I would go to the police. That night there was a call for Caitlyn. She is grounded from the phone still, so I told the caller that and asked who it was. She said it was Amanda (the nerve) and to tell Caitlyn the phone was in her coat pocket the whole time! Wow! For 5 weeks and she looked everywhere but there? Yea-No not buying it. Anyhow I said we'd be right over. When we got to the house it was all dark and I started to fear it was a set-up. I went to the porch with Caitlyn and knocked but no one answered. After about 5 minutes and a lot of noises from inside the house some girl answered the door and just said,"here!" and handed us the phone. My daughter had never seen the girl before. So we got the phone and the girl only made 6 calls on it before I guess the battery died and she had no charger for it. SO-my daughter is still grounded from all phones including hers until Dec 16th. She REALLY learned her lesson and I will be giving it back to her after this and I am CONFIDENT this will never happen again! OH- by the way, this is a PREPAID cellphone!(give me SOME credit) OH yea, believe me-I gave this A LOT of thought before giving her the phone! She is allotted a certain amount of prepaid time per month, if she runs out she's outta luck or she buys more time herself! Thanks for your concern and suggestions everyone! I really do appreciate it!

Roseanne is the best

I love the tv show Roseanne. I started watching it when I was a teenager. I loved the show because it was so real, it was unlike any other show on tv at the time. No REAL families were like Growing Pains or the Cosby Show! I was the same age as Becky at the time so I really identified with her and she was going through the same stuff I was. I thought my brother was more like Darlene, he was the same age as her. I think I stopped watching when I got a little older and worked or went out when it was on.
When I became pregnant with my youngest child, my boyfriend and I were having a lot of problems. At first the pregnancy revived our love for each other. We were both so loving to each other and he was so considerate of me. He quit smoking and found a new job to support us. He really seemed to be taking on more responsibilities around the house and even with my oldest daughter-he was more paternal toward her. Things were good, even with my work-which was completely demanding. Unfortunately this did not last long.
When I was about 5 or 6 months pregnant he started to revert back to old ways. He had made some "new friends" at his new job, which he regularly went out with on his days off, and eventually he started going to the bar with them after work.(He worked overnights too!) Things began changing between us drastically. He was less considerate of my condition, and now was the time I really needed him to be! He even stopped "trying" with my daughter, yes at times she would ignore him or whatever, but she had a lot of pent up animosity for him. He started giving me less and less of his paychecks and the burden of all of the expenses fell solely on me. I started losing a lot of sleep at night. I am an extremely analytical person. My mind is constantly thinking things over and running new ideas. I can't shut it off. I became severely depressed. I felt completely alone in the world and felt like I had no family or friends that I could turn to. I just tried to rejoice in my children and embrace my pregnancy-telling myself once she was born he would change. One night he didn't even come home-he said he was too drunk to drive. He had my car.(our only car at the time) He said he was staying with a coworker, a woman, that was "like 50 and super ugly." Yeah right.
Since I was awake I started watching Roseanne. I felt like (true or not) Roseanne was the only one there for me. It was on at 11:00pm, 11:30pm, 1:00am and 1:30am. I loved the family's interaction, and where I identified with Becky as a kid, I now identified with Roseanne as an adult. She seemed to be going through some similar things, but she still had a wonderful husband that loved her. He wasn't perfect and neither was their marriage or her life, but they had a good foundation. When push acme to shove they were in it together, and that is truly what I was missing in my life. After my daughter was born it didn't get any easier, but MUCH MUCH harder. My mom came to stay with us for two weeks. It wasn't enough for me! Len despised the idea and treated my mom so terribly-it really breaks my heart to think of it. The night before my mom left is the first night that Gabriella developed colic. This lasted the next 3 months of her life and I was a WALKING ZOMBIE! I even wrote on a calendar the amount of hrs straight in a day she would cry. Sometimes it was 12! I was nursing and the only time she would quiet would be when I was nursing her or in the middle of the night. I soon discovered Roseanne was on like 6 more times in a day. I started watching them in order and basically watched the entire series in sequential episodes, twice on my time off.
Len wasn't there for me when she had the colic unless I begged. He started drinking heavily again and I would write on the calendar when he would drink. He was drunk the entire month of March and even left me and his 3 week old baby to go to Windsor with his new friends for 3 days. I had had enough and told him to leave. He had a new place to stay that day and lived with a girl he worked with. He still came over to see us and eventually wormed his way back into the house. There is so much more to the story that I really don't even want to relive it anymore or even rehash it. To this day I am really battling all that happened between us and trying to cope with it. It has really scarred me and hurt me so much that I can't even think about a new relationship at this point. Bottom line-we are over, although he still tries to "win me back", at least physically, everytime he sees me. Despite the fact he has been with his new girlfriend for almost a year now. Despite the fact that he lives with her. All I know is that I still watch Roseanne every night at 11:00 and 11:30pm. It is an escape for me and a healing process for me. I know that when I am ready for it I will want to find a "Dan Conner" for me. Not someone that is perfect, but someone that is real, and funny, and loyal. A MAN and my protector, and will want to be there with me for the long haul.

The case of the missing cell phone!

My oldest daughter has asked me for a cell phone for a few years now. I had always promised her that she could have one when she turned 12. Well last year around this time my grandma's cell phone was missing. We all looked for it, including Caitlyn. We came to the conclusion it was stolen out of her car or she really misplaced it, until my uncle received the bill. Here Caitlyn had it all along, had been using it regularly and even charging it! She was busted and had a LONG list of punishments, including being grounded for her entire winter break, and banned from getting a cell phone for her 12th birthday!
Well yr went by and she asked me about it again before her b-day. I said no, even though I had decided I would get it for her. She really learned her lesson. So I gave it to her and she was BEYOND excited! It was the best gift ever. About a month ago after only having it for a month, her new friend asked to trade phones for 2 classes. I found this out after a few weeks of "my phone is in my locker, I can't open my locker, I forgot, " etc. There Are many things to this story, lets even look past the fact that she was not allowed to have her phone in class at all.
So I have asked Caitlyn everyday the phone status for the last month. The girl had a flurry of excuses also. "It's in my locker, I can't open it, it really wasn't in my locker, it's at home, it's at my dad's, he works a lot and i can't get it, EVEN we stopped by to drop it off to you but no one was home." ALL OBVIOUS LIES! I have been so patient with this girl, I told Caitlyn several times I was going to the house and talk to the parents, she would tell the girl and the girl would promise the phone the next day.
WELL I was finally fed up. My feelings are so hurt and I had grounded Caitlyn for a month because of this. It was time to call the parents. I called the number and asked for the mom. The guy on the phone said the mom didn't live there, that he was the grandpa and she lived with him. I told him the story, he asked the girl and she said it was in her locker. I told him we'd heard that before along with tons of other excuses. He assured me she would return it the next day and if not to call him back. Yesterday came, no cell phone. Caitlyn said the girl said it was at her dad's. Last night I got a phone call from "Amanda's Mom" telling me that "the dad" had the cell phone and he works a lot so we couldn't get it back until Friday. This was very obviously Amanda, so I said, ok but I would still be calling the grandpa. I was so furious I couldn't even see straight! I was ready to go over there or call the police. I calmed down and assumed the grandpa wasn't there so I called later. I called him a few times and when I finally got a hold of him he said Amanda told him she had returned the phone that it was in her locker. I told him that not only was that untrue, but that I had gotten a call from his number at 6:30 and the person said it was Amanda's mom and I told him what was said. He said the mom wasn't there-and I said then it was Amanda pretending to be her. He said he didn't know what to do that she had lied to him. I asked him if he wanted to get to the bottom of it and I would call him tomorrow. He said ok. But I am very concerned that he will brush me off or avoid this issue. If he can't resolve it should I go to the police?? I have no idea!