April 30, 2013
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Chewlee Was Going To Run Away….Forever!
TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM
It was a fun day here at the Brat Farm today. Juli was in a strange mood. Not necessarily a bad one, just not entirely happy. She DID get a happy face and from what she told me, she had a good day at school. Even the bully never bothered her out on the playground. Guess he recognized he actually WAS an asshole. Oops, I didn’t really mean that in a bad way. Forget I said that.
But she has a friend that is a couple years older that lives across the circle from us. She knows her from church and she wanted to go play with her. I told her she couldn’t go over there unless she was invited. I know that her mother has chores for her daughter and she also has to keep an eye out for her younger brother. However, there was a day that Chewlee had gotten on her bike and rode over to the girl’s house. The mother told Chewlee that she had to go home and ask the Beast if it was okay for her to be there. About that time, we realized that Chewlee had exceeded her boundaries given for her bike riding and the Beast KNEW where Chewlee had headed. He pulled up and made Chewlee return home since she hadn’t asked if she could go. Chewlee was not happy and the girl’s mother told her she could come over another time.
The mother kept her word and DID have Chewlee over the next week. Ever since then, Chewlee wants to go over and play with ..let’s call her Olivia (after Chewlee’s favorite NickJr. cartoon series). Today, Chewlee was really upset when I told her she couldn’t go over. When she got on her bike, she headed down the road. When she went past her boundary, the Beast yelled at her to come back around. She stopped her bike and yelled out that she *was running away forever!* I told her to have a nice trip but shouldn’t she pack a lunch or something? She sat there, thinking about it and then turned around and came back, announcing she was *just going to pack something to eat.* I told her that if she packed an orange, SHE would have to peel it. I knew she would grab an orange. When she came out, she had her backpack. I asked her what she packed and she said she had packed her glass of milk (it has a top on it but it DOES leak when on it’s side). I told her she couldn’t take her backpack because if she ran away, she wouldn’t be going to school and would just have to grow up stupid. She wasn’t happy about that at all. She had gone into the house and come back out with a grocery bag (the skimpy plastic ones) that she transferred her milk and orange into.
She sat down next to me and suddenly pointed and said, *Look…there’s Olivia and her little brother!* I said, *I guess they must be getting in their car to go somewhere.* The Beast, however, said, *No, they are going to play with a NICE little girl that is very good, listens to her parents and is good at school.* Juli gave him a sharp look and said, *What girl?* **Oh, her name is Linda and she lives two houses down from Olivia.** Juli got what I can only say is an evil look on her face and said, *I know who Linda is and I don’t like her very much now.*
The Beast had been talking about going over there earlier in the day and the mother had just returned from Indiana to visit her sick sister or cousin, he couldn’t remember which. Her name is ….hmm…Prissy. Right after telling me that, he said to me, *Prissy is going to be coming over to pick up Chewlee.* I swear to you, that is what he said to me. I told him, *Oh, you should tell that to Juli. It would make her happy.* He said, *No, there’s no reason to. It’ll be a surprise.*
Chewlee started washing her bike, after she watered *her* plants in the flower box out front. She was still unhappy so I broke down and told her what I THOUGHT was going to go on. After she put her bike away, she came in the house to watch cartoons and wait for Prissy to pick her up. Well, it WASN’T Prissy that showed up. It was the Princess. She doesn’t have a Tuesday night class at the college for a month now. That’s when the new semester begins.
Well, when the Princess walked in, Chewlee had a fit and was crying. She told her mother she didn’t want her there. She wanted to go play with Olivia. Olivia’s mother was going to come get her. The Beast said, *Who told you that?* I spoke up and said, *I did. You said Prissy was coming to pick her up.* He said, *I told you the Princess was coming for her.* I grabbed Chewlee, hugged her and told her I was sooooooooooooo sorry because I misunderstood the Beast. I felt just awful and she was crying so hard in disappointment. I whispered in her ear that if she would stop crying, I would give her some gum to take home with her. She stopped crying.
I know what gets her attention. Then, listen to this….she takes the gum I gave her, sneaks it over into the pocket on her backpack then says to her mother, *Mommy…you can’t look in the pocket on my backpack.* When her mother asks her why and what does she have in it? Chewlee replies, *It’s gum.* Big secret, right? Too funny.
Her mother told her that if the girls next door were outside playing, she could play with them until dinner was ready. So she was happy and I don’t have Chewlee here tonight. The poor bus driver is going to be so surprised in the morning. School will be ending soon. I guess somewhere around the 20th or 21st of the month since Chewlee graduates from kindergarten on the evening of the 20th. The Beast said he would go which kind of surprised me but we shall see. There’s plenty of time for him to change his mind. Know what Chewlee asked me to get her for her birthday? Marbles. When I asked her why marbles, she said it was because she liked them and thought they were pretty. I wonder who she knows that has some?
It was very warm today…our high was 79, sunny and fair. Not much wind at all. Perfect if you ask me. How was your day? Hope it was at the last a very pleasant one. Love you all. Take care.
