I haven't posted in a while, but I have been checking in from time to time. I just felt the need to vent (or scream) with others who may felt the same way.
In July my daughter told me that her grandma and daddy (800 miles away) were going to get her a Nintendo DSi for her birthday in October. For the "uninitiated" a DSi can connect somehow to the internet, and other people (including adults) can send messages to my daughter. I was definitely NOT going to allow that. I emailed him about this issue and he said he understood. Case dropped, right? Wrong!
So two weeks ago, the issue came up again. Could she have a DSi? He would disable the internet, but liked the improved features. No, I said. That which can be disabled can be re-enabled. Not happening. Her younger brother has a nice DS that their father got him for his birthday; she could have one just like his. In the meantime, she was given a hand-me-down DS to play with.
In the meantime, his outstanding child support has swelled to over $40,000. My daughter has had major dental work done, of which $550 I have paid since the insurance only covers half. Have I seen a dime towards this? Nope.
So yesterday I receive an email stating that he had sent my daughter the DSi ($190), but that he had "disabled" the internet and had loaded his picture and a message on it. Of course, this information comes after he has already shipped it. His exact words - "I know this will upset you, but I'm okay with that."
Some tense (but civil) emails flew back and forth, but in the end I resolved that I was not going to allow her to have this device. Their father tried to tell me that it could not be returned since it had been opened, but I found a very sympathetic manager at Toys R Us who helped me out. With their grandmother's permission, she got to keep the "extra" money to buy other stuff.
So, I had to stand in Toys R Us and let my daughter see the picture and hear the voicemail on the "cool" toy I would not let her have, before exchanging it for the other model.
Their grandmother and father are upset with me and think that I am "uncooperative". They also took issue with my argument that the kids should have "equal" toys, saying I should let my daughter have a better toy for a while, since my son had had a newer model for awhile, and that my son could get a cooler toy next birthday, and so on, and so on, and so on....
Really? Playing "one up" is good parenting?
I don't necessarily know why I had to post this... Bad day.
