Yesterday was SD10's Santa Shop at the school. That's where they can buy inexpensive gifts for their family members for Christmas.

We get a call around 10 a.m. and BM tells FH that SD10 is sick and she took her to work with her and could he come and get her? BM has done this before - like last Monday with SD8. FH tells her that she should have called earlier and just dropped SD10 off at the house when she took SD8 to school (the school is 1/2 mile up the road from us and BM's work is about 45 minutes away). BM says that SD10 wanted to go to work with her instead. So, FH tells her that SD10 can stay there then. BM says she can't keep SD10 with her all day and FH needs to pick her up after lunch and she reminds him that it IS HIS day. FH tells her that I'm gone shopping for the day and he is "on call" for work and can't get SD10. He then reminds her that the skids always "play" sick with her and she buys it every time. BM says SD10 is not "playing". She had a fever that morning and blah blah blah and she can't take off work because she really needs the money. FH then reminds her that she missed Monday because she was hungover and maybe she should think about that for next time the skids are sick. (Sunday night BM called and told us she had too much to drink and would not be able to get the skids that night and so we would have to keep them and then the next day she did not go to work - I saw her car at the bar - she had left it there overnight - and she didn't pick it up until after noon). BM hung up. Several hours later BM's father brings SD10 to us and SD10 seems perfectly fine. I take her temperature and she doesn't have a fever and when I told SD10 her fever is gone she says I never had a fever, mommy didn't take my temperature.
SD8 comes home from school and tells us she has her Santa Shop on Friday and she needs money. SD10 then tells us that she missed her Santa Shop and she will need to shop on Friday too. I asked if their mom had given them any money and SD10 says that mommy didn't have any money to give them because she had to put $5 each in their lunch accounts ($5 dollars last two days). There was our AHA moment! So, BM didn't have any money for SD10's Santa Shop and that's why SD10 had to stay home from school.
Pisses me off! BM spends money in the bar and then misses work on top of it AND then has no money left over for her kids.
And to top it all off - I ran out to do some errands around 5 pm last night (AND to just get out of the house) and I see BM's car at the bar. She doesn't usually get off work until 6. It took everything I had to not go in there and tell her exactly what I think of her.
Anyway, I am going to the skids Santa Shop with them today to help them buy gifts and GET THIS - we will have to buy BM something and that is making me very ill. But, what can you do? She's their mom. Of course they want to buy her something. Oh well, that's the life of a stepmom at its worst.