I sent this email out to family about two weeks ago. It is pretty funny in hindsight, but scary at the time....
So, I had to attend the school board meeting tonight. Daddy Mac decided to take the kids to McDonald's as a treat for dinner. I ran some errands, went to the meeting, and then stopped to get me something to eat.
When I got home, the kids were in bed and Daddy Mac was sitting in the silent living room. I was standing at the kitchen counter getting my food plated when I asked him how the night went. He mumbled something but I caught the words "gun" and "police". I stopped and asked him again what he said. I don't WHAT he said, but what I HEARD was "I had to call the police because they held a gun to Goosey Lou's head."
My blood ran cold. I almost passed out. I ran into the living room screaming "WHAT!?! WHAT?!?! What happened?"
Daddy Mac then proceeded to tell me the CORRECT story:
Goosey and Little Man were playing with our neighbor boy, Caleb in his front yard while Daddy Mac was patching part of our fence in the back. He said that Little Man came running to the back yard and very excitedly told him that the boy across the street had a gun and had pointed it at Caleb's head. Daddy Mac started asking if the kid was still outside? Did Caleb's dad know? Had they called 911? etc. LM did not know, but said that the boy had gone back inside of his house.
I guess Daddy Mac felt that the problem was solved.
A few minutes later, LM came bustling back with the house phone in hand and says "Dad! Here's 911!" Daddy Mac looks and sees that the phone is on "talk"...and hangs up. Of course, they call back. He explained that his 6 year old had called and they asked about the alleged gun issue (that LM had told them about). Daddy Mac told him he did not know what had happened but the kid was not there anymore.
Que the 5-0.
The police roll up and want to talk to the kids. Daddy Mac & our kids, Caleb & his dad. Caleb confirms that the kid had a gun and was pointing it at him. When the officer asked if it was real, no one knew...so he walked across the street, knocked on our NEW neighbor's door and interview the perp who is about Goosey's age. Turns out that it looks like a real handgun except for the small orange tip. He said that at a distance it would look real.
He told everyone that LM did the right thing...no harm, no foul.
The mom marched the kid out and made him apologize for pointing the gun at Caleb.
The neighbors up the street came out to see what the show was about. It must have been very exciting for all.
I hope that our new neighbors, who have rescued our escaped dog, will not poison said dog or call the law on us for not having her leashed when she does escape again. I am horrified.
Moral of the story: Don't ask 20 questions to an excited 6 year old...get up and see for yourself or he will call the po-po.
Now off to try and sleep with a spike of adrenaline.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Flying the Friendly Skies!
Daddy Mac has been gone for several days. Grandpa Mac has been pretty ill with his lungs, so Daddy Mac decided to help out his sister and take a turn being a nurse for the week. The kids have really missed him but have done pretty well.
Yesterday was Little Man's first day back to school since Daddy has been gone and I expected that he would have a rough day. We have struggled this past year with some serious issues at school so I was preparing myself to have to deal with consequences at the end of the day. However, I was surprised that Little Man only came home "on yellow" for talking!
While we were waiting for Goosey Lou to get out of her piano lessons right after school, I was reading my book and LM was playing in the back of the vancar with his legos. I heard him making the regular crashing, shooting, destruction sounds as his spaceship was battling an alien. All was right in the world.
Then I heard Little Man begin to talk....
Yeah, my dad is in the military so we have to move around a lot...My mom and I have lived in Paris and in London. We are always 'flying those friendly skies'!
I put my book down and turned to ask him what.in.the.world was he talking about. I fully thought that with all the talk on the news, and the fact that his teacher's husband is going to be shipped out to Afghanistan, that he believed that he was a military brat. He said "Mom! It is part of Hannah's musical 'Life School Musical'" and began to repeat word for word the drama lines that precede a favorite song from the CD "I Love Bugs".
It caught me off guard that from just listening to his sister's CD that he could recite a play and sing the song perfectly. I just hope that he doesn't tell the tale at school while his dad's away for the week!
Yesterday was Little Man's first day back to school since Daddy has been gone and I expected that he would have a rough day. We have struggled this past year with some serious issues at school so I was preparing myself to have to deal with consequences at the end of the day. However, I was surprised that Little Man only came home "on yellow" for talking!
While we were waiting for Goosey Lou to get out of her piano lessons right after school, I was reading my book and LM was playing in the back of the vancar with his legos. I heard him making the regular crashing, shooting, destruction sounds as his spaceship was battling an alien. All was right in the world.
Then I heard Little Man begin to talk....
Yeah, my dad is in the military so we have to move around a lot...My mom and I have lived in Paris and in London. We are always 'flying those friendly skies'!
I put my book down and turned to ask him what.in.the.world was he talking about. I fully thought that with all the talk on the news, and the fact that his teacher's husband is going to be shipped out to Afghanistan, that he believed that he was a military brat. He said "Mom! It is part of Hannah's musical 'Life School Musical'" and began to repeat word for word the drama lines that precede a favorite song from the CD "I Love Bugs".
It caught me off guard that from just listening to his sister's CD that he could recite a play and sing the song perfectly. I just hope that he doesn't tell the tale at school while his dad's away for the week!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
She Makes A Difference!
I will start this entry out with no guilt. I just refuse to lament about what a blogging slacker I am. =)
I felt so compelled to document this one because it is the epitome of what my daughter is all about...
A little background: Last year in third grade, Goosey Lou made a great friend, Queen Bee. They were very tight and it seemed like it might be of the sort that would last a long, long time. However, as the year progressed, I noticed that Goosey was not speaking about Queen; she was not calling her friend on the phone; and she seemed to be unhappy when this child's name was brought up.
One afternoon, Goosey came home and while we were chatting about her day, she started to cry and said "Mom. It is so hard to do the right thing. I don't know if I can do it." The 'right thing' in the case was standing up to Queen Bee when she called the kids in special ed "morons" or laughed at the girl who was a bit larger than the rest of her peers. You know the type.
But in particular, there was a little boy, William, that was new to the school. William was pretty awkward, loud, socially backward, and pretty lonely. He did not know how to be friends and never had anyone to play with. Goosey noticed. She began inviting William to play with her and her other friends. Queen began to call him names....Loser, Weirdo, etc. She informed Goosey that if she played with William, then she would make sure that no one played with her. And she was pretty successful in doing just that.
It is hard to do the right thing. I left it up to her. I told her that she needed to think about what kind of person she wanted to be and that Psalm 1:1 says "Blessed is the man who does not walk with the wicked or stand with evildoers or sit with the mockers." I told her that she did not have to be William's best friend, but it sounded like he might need a friendly face in the sea of kids who could not care less.
The ending to this story is that Goosey Lou gave up Queen Bee as her friend. She confronted her and actually made some mature decisions regarding her relationship. She lost her "best friend". She grieved and simply knew that she would never have the BFF that girls her age long for.
I met William last year at Goosey's birthday party. She invited him and about 12 others from her class. If I were being honest, I would say that William was the most annoying children I have encountered in years. He is REALLY awkward, VERY loud, SEVERELY backwards socially, and has one friend. =)
Fast forward to today:
Goosey's school has given out this rubber bracelet's with the words "I MAKE A DIFFERENCE" on them. They were given to each child to give to someone that he/she perceives to make a difference in their lives or their communities. They can be given to a staff member, a custodian, another student, etc.
Goosey waited until we were walking in the house today and said "Guess who gave me a "DIFFERENCE" bracelet today? William. Even though he is in another class, he walked into my room and handed me one."
I asked if he said why. She replied "He said that it was because I was a good friend to him. Even when no one wanted to include him, I always was his friend. Wasn't that nice of him?"
Wasn't that nice of him? I absolutely wanted to bust with happiness that my sweet, sweet daughter has such compassion for those kids who just want to be accepted.
Doing the right thing is really hard sometimes. She makes a difference though...every single day.
I felt so compelled to document this one because it is the epitome of what my daughter is all about...
A little background: Last year in third grade, Goosey Lou made a great friend, Queen Bee. They were very tight and it seemed like it might be of the sort that would last a long, long time. However, as the year progressed, I noticed that Goosey was not speaking about Queen; she was not calling her friend on the phone; and she seemed to be unhappy when this child's name was brought up.
One afternoon, Goosey came home and while we were chatting about her day, she started to cry and said "Mom. It is so hard to do the right thing. I don't know if I can do it." The 'right thing' in the case was standing up to Queen Bee when she called the kids in special ed "morons" or laughed at the girl who was a bit larger than the rest of her peers. You know the type.
But in particular, there was a little boy, William, that was new to the school. William was pretty awkward, loud, socially backward, and pretty lonely. He did not know how to be friends and never had anyone to play with. Goosey noticed. She began inviting William to play with her and her other friends. Queen began to call him names....Loser, Weirdo, etc. She informed Goosey that if she played with William, then she would make sure that no one played with her. And she was pretty successful in doing just that.
It is hard to do the right thing. I left it up to her. I told her that she needed to think about what kind of person she wanted to be and that Psalm 1:1 says "Blessed is the man who does not walk with the wicked or stand with evildoers or sit with the mockers." I told her that she did not have to be William's best friend, but it sounded like he might need a friendly face in the sea of kids who could not care less.
The ending to this story is that Goosey Lou gave up Queen Bee as her friend. She confronted her and actually made some mature decisions regarding her relationship. She lost her "best friend". She grieved and simply knew that she would never have the BFF that girls her age long for.
I met William last year at Goosey's birthday party. She invited him and about 12 others from her class. If I were being honest, I would say that William was the most annoying children I have encountered in years. He is REALLY awkward, VERY loud, SEVERELY backwards socially, and has one friend. =)
Fast forward to today:
Goosey's school has given out this rubber bracelet's with the words "I MAKE A DIFFERENCE" on them. They were given to each child to give to someone that he/she perceives to make a difference in their lives or their communities. They can be given to a staff member, a custodian, another student, etc.
Goosey waited until we were walking in the house today and said "Guess who gave me a "DIFFERENCE" bracelet today? William. Even though he is in another class, he walked into my room and handed me one."
I asked if he said why. She replied "He said that it was because I was a good friend to him. Even when no one wanted to include him, I always was his friend. Wasn't that nice of him?"
Wasn't that nice of him? I absolutely wanted to bust with happiness that my sweet, sweet daughter has such compassion for those kids who just want to be accepted.
Doing the right thing is really hard sometimes. She makes a difference though...every single day.
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