This happened this past weekend with me. We were driving in the car and talking about the upcoming Halloween party at the skids school where I am head-room parent to SD10. We were talking about costumes and such..........and then the "rehearsed" talk.

SD8 - "can we get Halloween costumes this weekend?"

Me - "I don't know if we're gonna have time this weekend because of pumpkin carving, and my mom's bday party, and you know you guys are going to BM's early on Sunday because daddy and me are going to the football game, so maybe BM can take you on Sunday."

SD8 - "well, mommy doesn't have any money and she gets paid every two weeks and she won't get her next paycheck until next Friday and we won't have any time to get our costumes after that."

Me - "well, let's talk to daddy about it when we get home."

Granted, we had just driven past the bar where BM hangs out on her off days, and her car was there. I saw it, but skids didn't. And another thing, BM gets a CS check EVERY week, and it's not like Halloween just SUDDENLY happened - it's the same date every freakin' year, so plan ahead dummy!

We get home and SD8 immediately runs to FH and asks about the Halloween costumes and says that mommy doesn't have any money and she won't have any money until next Friday because mommy gets paid every two weeks. (Exactly in the same way she told me.)
Well, FH says to SD8, "I don't know honey, your mommy is taking you guys trick-or-treating and she told me a couple weeks ago that she would get your costumes this year since it falls on her weekend this year."

After the skids weren't around, FH told me how he had driven by the bar earlier and BM's car was there (on a work day) and he has decided not to bail her out this time. Obviously, she has money. FH swears that BM tells the skids to say these things to us because in the past (when BM wasn't working) FH would just cough up the money for everything, but since she's supposedly working now, she can pay for some things and she HAD told FH that she would get the costumes this year. Anyway's a little later my future MIL stopped by and asked the skids what they were gonna be on Halloween and she heard the same story from skids and so she just decided to take the skids shopping and get their costumes. She's so nice to do this, and we would never have allowed the skids to go without any costumes, but we were just gonna make BM sweat a little and call and ask us herself - or maybe, just maybe, BM will stay away from the bar for a day and use some of her money to get the costumes if she thinks we aren't. That's my thinking about all this. BM knows we would never let the skids go without and so she'll pull the "no money" bit all the time and we've bailed her out every time in the past. What if we just said "NO". I think BM would come through if she's forced to. At least I hope she would.

Anyway, haven't vented for a while and just needed to get this off my chest.

Thanks, ladies!!!!!!

All in all, things have been going really good around here lately..............oh look - a flying pig!!!