The Trail Of Events
Couple of weeks ago, there was this circular from the daughters’ school where they sent home 5 cards for an evening soiree. The cards had to be sold upto a week before the event and the money and unsold cards to be handed over to the teacher then. You had to try and sell at least 3. As happens in tasks with dual responsibility, both my elder daughter and me forgot about it for a while. Or so I assumed.
Not her though, she’d been upto something. A day before the deadline, we were going through her day-book and a couple of cards fell out. House work and home-work, overall, is my responsibility – ensuring it gets done. I asked her why there are only 2 cards now. So, Mumma, I need the money x*3 cards = Total, the elder one said. But where are those cards? I insisted.
Some coaxing, threats, and a promise not to blow my fuse made her confess that 3 of them had been planted in the neighbours’ post boxes, almost a week ago. My 3rd eye immediately summoned events of that day without too much trouble. A few evenings ago, the kids were playing in the back garden innocently and I was in the kitchen.
Suddenly, I had seen them running out on the street, and then darting back home like 2 shot arrows. They spared me the details when I shouted at them for being on the road, which is out of bounds. They’d trooped back innocently inside and for once did everything I asked them to, no reminding even once. That, if nothing else, should’ve made me suspicious 🙂
Back to the confession err dining table; incidentally all this unfolded just before we went to bed. Too late to ring the bells on our new neighbours and quiz them on contents of their post-boxes. Incidentally, the new was us, as we’d shifted houses. Since my daughter had already told the teacher about having sold 3 cards successfully, and did not want to lose face, we entered into a round of strategic negotiations!!
I was not happy at all. First, both of them had to be agree that dropping random stuff in people’s mail-boxes is not acceptable. Then, if they do intend to do any promotion stuff for school etc I must be in the know and I could guide them to do it properly.
The value of the 3 cards needed to be understood, especially in case the neighbors did not buy them finally. We worked out that the amount could buy them x number of bananas or cookies or chocolates. The last 2 sunk in for sure for the older one has been receiving visits from the tooth fairy lately.
I told them that I would hand over the money only on one condition that she asks for 1 day more from the teacher, meets the 3 neighbours personally and explains what they are for. The next day after school, we went across to each of the neighbours, introduced ourselves and the elder one explained about the cards.
Luckily, 2 of them had found the card and were planning to use it. They paid us promptly and the kids even got a chocolate! For the one who had emptied his post-box without sighting the card, the kids bid a polite thank you and returned. Someone’s got to pay though; we are off chocolates for a week!
Vibha, aka Chatty Wren, is a full-time mother to two delightful little girls. She blogs at http://wrenwarbles.blogspot.com about her life with her little ones, ups and downs of living in a foreign country and anything else that catches her fancy.
