Scribblings

New Neighbors IV (Ad Nauseum)

A pattern is developing with our new neighbors. We don’t hear from them for the first few days of the week … Monday to Wednesday and sometimes Thursday. Once it’s the weekend, though, the phone calls and messages begin. Today Clarissa and Kristin burst into the house, all excited and chattering. Clarissa’s mother needed to go to DMV and needed me to watch the kids.

I said no, I can’t. I had to go to the dollar store and the library with my kids. I was planning on taking them around 4:30, after TB leaves for his CAD class. Well, you’d think it was a national emergency the way Clarissa was carrying on. So I finally said, well, I guess you could ask Heidi. So before I could say another single word, Clarissa’s flying up the stairs calling for Heidi.

Heidi, startled, apparently said, “I guess so” or something like that because next thing I know, the kids are running down the stairs and out the door. Heidi comes into the family room and asks if I know what’s going on. Already I can feel my whole body tensing up. I’m getting pissed. I told her what was up and that I wasn’t sure she’d get paid if she did this and it really was impossible …

The two girls come barreling back in the door.

Now, meantime, this is not the only thing going on. Just before their first appearance, TB was on the phone with his mother … or he was trying to be. Billy and Heidi began having an argument about leftover chili and they got louder and louder. So TB had to move to his office to be able to hear his mother.

He came back out to tell me about the call when the girls burst in again. They were very excited and bubbling over, yes, it was just fine, so the three of them (Heidi, Kristin & Clarissa) would watch all the sibbies here. “No, not okay!” I said. Really, this was too much! “You all need to stay over there!” And meantime there was the whole issue of Heidi getting paid and generally inconveniencing all of us.

I tried to call Terry over the phone but the line was busy (of course). So Billy volunteered to go down and give her the message.

He came back within a few minutes and said everything was cleared up. Terry was just going to take all the kids to the DMV with her. She couldn’t have a sitter because they’re living in a “transition” house. Oh, good, does that mean they won’t be staying much longer?

That’s a horrible thing to say and I know it, but I would feel this way with anyone who’d behave like this. Why would someone wait until the very last minute to ask for a sitter and then assume we must have NO other plans and that it’s okay to just drop the kids off? ARRRRRRGH!

Kristin became really upset after Billy came back. “I know why they’re doing this!” she said to me. She was practically in tears.

Clarissa had been raped, that was why.

I went cold all over but then I got angry. I said sometimes people tell fibs to try and get other people to feel bad for them and to help. I had in mind the infamous Jon of Survivor who lied about his grandmother. He had a preplanned hoax set up in which his buddy came to the island and said, “Your grandma’s dead, dude.” Or something like that.

Kristin got mad. She insisted that Clarissa was not lying because even Terry said Clarissa had been raped.

The other thing about this that made me angry was, why would Terry bring this up? What did a rape have to do with watching 6 kids so she could go to DMV?

I smell a rat here.

If I ever speak to Terry again, I’m going to tell her:

1. I’m not babysitting kids…and if she can’t have Heidi to her house to sit then we aren’t going to sit her kids
2. Please give us some notice when asking for a favor, including money. Please don’t assume that we’re ready, willing, and able to help whenever she decides to call
3. Pay me back my ten bucks!

Some of this is my fault, I know. I am sure I probably said things like “Call us if you ever need help” which is like an open invitation to some people to make some real pests of themselves … and to make me feel guilty for not dropping everything I’m doing to jump for them.

GRRRRR. I am very frustrated!