Ya know I really don't get parents who...
just shove their responsibilities onto other people. As you all know, I am a mother and I take that role seriously. But I really wish others would do the same, cuz it would make my life so much simpler.

Wondering what I'm talking about? Here's the story:

Taylor was going to a skateboarding demo today. There was going to be semi-pro skateboarders there showing kids how to do different tricks both on the ground (freestyle) and on the quarter and half-tube (I think that's what it's called.)

Anyway, a parent or guardian had to sign a waiver for each child, releasing the city, the organizations, etc. from all liability in the event of injury or worse. So I was going to take Taylor to the demo (she was also being sponsored by a local skate shop..pretty cool, sign the waiver and head back home and get some sleep...

This is where the "other parents" come in..hang with me...I'm almost to the point of this rant/post...

One of Taylor's friend's parents dropped her off at our house this morning so she could go with Taylor to the demo. This would have been fine, 'cept for the waiver that needed to be signed. When I aksed Taylor's friend about it, she said "my mom said that it would be okay for you to sign for me."

Oh. Hell. NO!

So, the girl calls her house, and her mother answers. the girl explains that she needs to sign a waiver for her daughter to participate and that I didn't think it was a good idea for me to sign a waiver for another person's kid (nor did I think they would LET me...but that was a moot point to me, I wasn't going to do it anyway).

Know what the mother said. Go ahead...try and guess...I'll wait...

She told her "well, I've got things I need to do and I can't be bothered with worrying about that right now." (click)

Yes, the "click" was the woman hanging up on her daughter.

WTF?!?

So, I did the only thing I could do...I took the girl home.

Can someone explain to me how it seems like a good idea to pawn off parental responsibilities onto other people? Now, if MY child would have called and said that to me, I either would have cleared my schedule and made sure I signed the waiver, or I would have said, "stay where you are, I'll come pick up my kid", or I might have asked if they could bring my child home. But never EVER would I have just said "I can't be bothered" and hung up on my kid!

UGH!

When I went back to pick Taylor up several hours later, the girl was there with Taylor...her parents no where to be found. Taylor asked if I could drop her off at the plaza where her father would pick her up "later"....whatever that meant. I would have had the kid come home with us, but Lou and I were going out, and although we don't mind leaving Taylor home by herself for a time, we don't like to do that with other people's kids (that whole responsility thing).

The whole thing just left a bad taste in my mouth. I cannot believe that parents could be that blasé about their child.

In other news
Lou and I, along with several other friends we miniature golfing and bowling today. It was fun...and it was nice to get together with friends, a couple of whom we hadn't seen in ages. With the impending move and my schedule at work, it's hard to know when we will be able to get together like that again, so we took pictures and had a grand old time. I'll most likely post some pictures on my website and link to them later on.

Well, that's about it. I'm wiped, so I think I'm going to play a few games and head for bed. I'm going to be back to making that commute before I know it. Bleh...just one more week...I hope!

:-)

- posted by Kim @ 10:21 PM