rookie mom mistake

If you have a kid in school I'm sure you're aware of the Scholastic Book catalogues that are sent home once a month. I love books so I'm always excited to see these come home. Abby and I usually flip through them together because spending her allowance on books is always okay with me. Not to mention the school gets something back whenever we buy books and being we are the lowest funded school in the district every little bit helps.

When last month's catalogue came home I couldn't help, but notice they had the complete set of the Weather Fairies books and a price that was well below the cover price if we had bought the books individually at a book store. Abby really enjoyed reading the first two book sof the jewel fairies series, so I thought this set would make an incredible Christmas present for her. And since I am such a giving person I gave the suggestion to Grandma Linda. So I ordered the books on Grandma Linda's behalf and sat back to wait.

Now with previous book orders they just arrived home in her backpack with Abby really not having a clue they were in there, but that was then and this is now. Now she is a grown up first grader who is responsible for her own stuff and apparently has a good idea what she's carrying around in her back pack at any given moment. I found that out the hard way when she got home from school Friday and whipped the entire Weather Fairies set out of her backpack and waved them in my face. In response to that I snatched them out of her hands and hid them behind my back because she'd never think to look there. Abby, of course, was bewildered. Why was her Mom suddenly behaving like a crack head?

I managed to divert her attention and figured the excitement of Halloween would wipe the thought of those books right out of her head. I stored them safely away in my gift trunk hoping never to hear of them again. And I didn't for the next 12 hours. There she was at my bedside first thing in the morning. The girl who never forgets anything. Tapping me on the arm wanting to know where I put the fairy books. I pretend I don't know what she's talking about and when that fails I pretend I don't speak english. Then I divert her attention with breakfast and hope the thought has been wiped right out of her head.

And it was, for about 18 hours. Then there she is with her two books from the jewel fairies series waving them in my face wanting to know where her new books are. Once again I claim not to know what she's talking about.

"What books?" I ask. "I didn't see any books!"

"Yes you did! You snatched them right out of my hands!"

This kid is tough. Maybe we have a investigative journalist on our hands here. She has a mind like a steel trap, that one. Some how I managed to put her off again, but as Mike pointed out I am fighting a losing battle here. So I had to call Grandma Linda and confess this latest parenting blunder. I told her I was willing to keep putting her off because the "out of sight out of mind" rule had to kick in at some point. Right? But Grandma Linda was of the same mind as Mike. So I believe the plan is for her to "surprise" Abby with her new books when she's over to babysit tomorrow night.

As for me I'm looking at a hard hit to the Cool Mom Campaign. Definitely going to be some sort of a points deduction for that one.