I have tried to get my kids to understand that I want them to have fun activities with their friends ... they just need to make sure all sets of parents know what's going on and approve. The girls are especially famous for plotting with their friends, making prearrangements and then springing the plans on us at the last minute. Even when the other parents are people I know and trust, I'm not thrilled about being in the dark until the eleventh hour and then having the whole package thrust into my face. Usually, details of the plans are pretty ambiguous and there are holes here and there ... usually with supervision. The kids seem to assume that everyone is trustworthy.
Right.
This year, Kristin wanted to go around the neighborhood with her friend Katelyn. The original plan called for Kristin to have her friend here for the night. They would go trick-or-treating and then come back and watch scary movies. I thought it was a great idea and said if it was okay with Katelyn's parents it would be fine with us.
Kristin started out with good intentions. She called Katelyn and then found out that her friend was supposed to go out with the neighbor next door. Well, that was too bad, I thought. That happened 2 or 3 weeks ago and I thought that was the end of it.
Today, Kristin asked if she could trick-or-treat in Katelyn's neighborhood. Well, I don't know that neighborhood. It's not far, maybe in walking distance. I wanted to know who would be going around with them and Kristin said one of the kids was 15. I wasn't convinced. I know kids, especially teenagers, can get wild and it's so easy to run into trouble out there in the dark. I said I wanted to talk to Katelyn's mother ... who wasn't home.
I told Kristin why I was concerned and she seemed to understand that. I said if Billy could go around with them, I would be agreeable to the new plans -- once we'd talked to Katelyn's mom.
When we finally got our acts together, TB spoke to Katelyn's mother about the girls going out. The mother, Debra, said she wouldn't get home from work until 5:30 and no one else would be home. I was listening to the conversation and then said I wasn't comfortable with just the 3 girls going out and would she object to Billy being there? She said it was okay with her. One hurdle cleared.
It all rested with the parents of the 15 year old. The father nixed the idea. He said he doesn't know Billy. He wasn't planning to go around the neighborhood with the girls and I wasn't comfortable letting Kristin go around at night in a place I'm not familiar with.
Kristin is a great kid. She's disappointed but okay with it.
What we're still hoping to do is have Katelyn come over later in the evening to watch movies and stay over. This way I know the girls are safe and I won't have to contend with agita as well as worry.
Thursday Three:
1. What's the scariest story you?ve ever heard?
As a kid, I was frightened by the gruesome tale of ?Black Aggie? of Baltimore, Maryland. My next door neighbors said she was a witch and had been killed in a cemetery. She would rise up out of the grave to ?get? anyone walking by. Even though we didn?t live near the cemetery, I was still scared because the kid next door said ?Black Aggie? could get me from anywhere.
The real story of ?Black Aggie? can be found at Baltimore: A Link to the City. ?Remember Black Aggie?? is a link in the index on that page.
2. What's the scariest movie youve ever seen?
It?s got to be the original ?Night of the Living Dead?. I have yet to be able to watch it all the way through without getting the heebie jeebies!
3. What's the scariest thing thats ever happened to you or in your presence?
My first thought was to think of something supernatural. One night, my cousin Anne and I were playing Uno with 4 friends. To make a long story really short, my late grandmother came to us as we were snacking. We didn?t see her but Anne and I knew it was her. We all watched the cookie plate rise from the center of the table and move toward on of the friends, as if to offer a second helping. There is more to this story but the thing is: I wasn?t scared. This was my grandmother and there is nothing scary about her.
On December 13, 1972 a school janitor totally flipped in my high school cafeteria. He pulled out a machete knife, stabbed some security guards, grabbed a 15 year old student and held her hostage in his little office ? right next door to my classroom. We could hear the girl screaming and begging God to help her as the deranged man cursed and threatened her. It was truly the most scary experience of my life. After long hours, the man finally let the girl go, charged the police, and was blown into little pieces by the SWAT team. I?ve never forgotten it.